Finding Happiness
by laurenbrianne0711
Summary: Olivia finds love with a business executive, but wants things to move slow. Will he go at her pace even after a family tragedy? How many miles is Olivia willing to go for their relationship...literally. Please review! I own no one...please don't sue me.
1. You Know This Guy?

Olivia walked through her apartment, her high heels clicking on the floor. Her dark jeans fit snuggly on her thighs, and fell to the floor, almost covering her brown, pointed toe heels. She grabbed the red clutch off of the couch before walking back toward the bathroom. She adjusted her hair in the mirror which was straight, and flipped outward at the ends. Her plain white long sleeve shirt hung to every curve of her body, and came to rest just above her thick brown belt.

The buzzer on the wall sounded, echoing through the apartment. Olivia took one last glance in the mirror before walking out of the bathroom and down the hall. "I'll be down in a minute," she said into the speaker before grabbing her brown jacket and walking out of her apartment. She walked out of the doors of her apartment building to find Mark standing in the middle of the sidewalk, holding a single red rose. His strong facial features were tanned and attractive. His dark brown hair was gelled up in the front, and his black button up shirt was tucked into his black dress pants.

"Don't you look handsome," Olivia said walking toward Mark.

"Yeah well, I have to try extra hard when I'm seen in public with you," he said with a smile handing her the single red rose. Olivia smiled taking the rose from him before kissing him lightly. He took her hand in his as they walked down the sidewalk toward the SUV parked on the street. He helped her into the car before walking around toward the driver's seat.

Olivia sipped her wine as she sat across from Mark in the restaurant. "So what are your plans next weekend?" he asked.

"I'm off on Saturday but on Sunday I'm on call all day," she told him. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to see if you wanted to come to Buffalo with me to see my parents," he said as the waiter set their dinners in front of them. Olivia pulled her napkin off of the table and laid it on her lap. "Considering that we've been dating for going on six months now, I thought that I would finally introduce you." Olivia smiled lightly, feeling slightly nervous about possibly meeting his parents. "My mom has been asking me about when she is going to meet you."

"Ok," Olivia said nervously taking another sip of her wine.

"You're nervous," he observed twirling pasta onto his fork. Olivia nodded a little as she took a bite of her salad. "Why?"

"Mark, you know my history with relationships. I don't usually get to the 'meet the parents' stage," she explained.

"And I told you long ago that I didn't care about anything that happened in your past. I care about you, and right now," he said leaning over his plate slightly. Olivia smiled, before taking another bite.

"How did I get so lucky to find you?" she asked.

Olivia sat on the edge of the bed, as she slipped her shoes off. Mark walked into the bedroom, carrying a glass of wine. He walked over in front of her, handing her the glass. She smiled as she took it from him. He leaned down and kissed her lightly. She set the wine glass on the bedside table, before standing up. "Do you have any idea how amazing you are?" she said kissing him lightly. She felt his hand on her jaw as he kiss deepened. He smiled as they parted.

"I think I'm falling in love with you Olivia Benson," he whispered. Olivia's eyes widened, surprised at what she was hearing. She watched as a small smile came across Mark's face before he leaned in and kissed her again.

Olivia walked into the squad room a few days later to find Elliot and John talking by the coffee station. "Morning," Olivia said as she made her way to her desk. She hung her jacket on the back of her chair before walking over to the guys.

"Good morning, Olivia," John said handing her a cup.

"Hey," she said as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Cragen wants us to go and talk to Erica Johnson's boss at the business firm," Elliot said as he walked passed Olivia toward his desk.

"Ok," Olivia responded as she grabbed a lid off of the stack before walking back to her desk. "Which firm is it?"

"Uh, hold on a minute," Elliot said flipping through his notes. "CLG Marketing Management." Olivia felt her stomach jump, realizing that CLG Marketing Management was where Mark worked. She had yet to tell her colleagues about Mark because she was unsure of how they'd react. "Something wrong?" he asked, as he noticed Olivia's expression change.

"No," Olivia said with a smile. "You ready?" she asked grabbing her jacket off of the back of her chair. Elliot nodded before following her out of the squad room.

Elliot and Olivia walked through the front doors of the building and up to a desk where a young woman was working. "Excuse me," Elliot said showing the woman his badge. "We are looking for whoever managed Erica Johnson."

"Uh, let me check for you," she said turning to her computer. "Miss Johnson worked in the Finance Department so her supervisor would have been Jason Waters," she read off of the computer screen. "Let me call him and let him know you are here." After a few moments the woman hung up the phone and looked up to the detectives. "Mr. Waters isn't in today, but our financial supervisor is available to talk to you. He would be able to answer your questions," she said.

"Thanks," Elliot said.

"His office is on the 5th floor, down the hall on the left," she told them. Elliot and Olivia made their way to the elevators. They walked down the hall and into the office of Mark James, the financial supervisor and Olivia's boyfriend. Mark looked up from his desk to find Elliot and Olivia standing in the doorway of his office.

"Olivia?" he said standing up, surprised to see her.

"You know this guy?" Elliot asked Olivia, confused. Olivia stood silent unsure of how to approach the situation. Seeing that Olivia felt a little uncomfortable Elliot turned back to Mark. "Uh, Detective Stabler, Manhattan Special Victims Unit," Elliot said, showing Mark his badge. "We have some questions about Erica Johnson."

Mark looked away from Olivia to Elliot, he too seeing that Olivia felt slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, yeah. We are all upset about what happened to her. She was a great asset to this company."

"Was she having any problems with coworkers, clients, anybody at all?" Elliot asked.

Mark shook his head. "Erica was dedicated to her job. She got along with everybody that worked alongside her. I don't know a lot about her personal life but I know that she didn't have any problems here." Elliot nodded. "Do you have any leads about who may have done this to her?" Mark asked.

"At this point we are just trying to piece together her life and try to figure out if anyone was out to get her. What were her responsibilities here as far as her job performance?"

"Uh, she dealt with the profit and revenue of certain investments of our clients. She went to different businesses with people from our marketing department t to back up their ideas with numbers. She and Simon McDaniels just signed a two million dollar deal with Phillips Enterprises last week," Mark explained.

"What about coworkers?" Elliot asked. "Did she work with anyone primarily?"

"Sharon Lesby. They usually traveled and did presentations together. I think they got together outside of the office occasionally. She may be able to tell you more," Mark answered. Elliot glanced at Olivia, satisfied with Mark's answers.

"Alright, I think we're good. Thank you for your time," Elliot said as he turned to walk out of the office. Olivia mouthed and 'I will call you later' to Mark before smiling and following Elliot out of the office.

Elliot and Olivia stood in silence as the elevator made their way to the first floor. The elevator doors opened and Elliot walked down the small hallway and outside into the cool, October air. He and Olivia climbed into the car, and Elliot started the ignition. "How do you know the finance guy?" he asked Olivia, looking over to her. Olivia glanced out the window before turning to Elliot.

"He's my boyfriend," she told him. Elliot raised his brow in surprise.

"Since when?" he asked.

"Six months ago," she answered plainly. Elliot's eyes widened as he turned to face the windshield. "I was going to tell you guys but I wasn't sure where this was going, especially since its never really gotten past the three week mark before," she added. Elliot smiled as he pulled away from the curb.

"You like him?" he asked.

"Of course, or I wouldn't be dating him," Olivia said sarcastically with a smile. Elliot laughed lightly as he turned the corner. "He actually wants to take me to meet his parents this weekend in Buffalo."

"And do you want to go?" Elliot asked before slowing the car down to a stop at the red light. He turned to face Olivia.

"I want to go, I'm just nervous about meeting them is all," she said looking over to him.

"It'll be fine. The first time I met Kathy's parents, I was making dinner and burnt the pasta to the bottom of the pot and had to find somewhere to take everyone to dinner in rural Pennsylvania," Elliot said. "Don't stress about it, Liv, you'll be fine." The car behind them honked, causing Elliot to turn back to the road. After realizing that the stop light had turned green, he began down the road again.


	2. Shut Up

Olivia sat quietly in the passenger seat as Mark drove through the neighborhood where his parents lived. Trees lined the road, their leaves colored of the autumn season. Olivia looked out of the window as she felt her stomach flip up and down.

"Don't be nervous sweetie, you'll be fine," he said rubbing her thigh lightly. She smiled as she covered his hand with hers. He pulled over to the curb, in front of a small, red brick home. White shudders framed the windows, as small shrubs lined the walkway up to the house. He turned off the ignition to the car, before turning to Olivia, who was still visibly nervous. "Baby, it's going to be fine, okay. I promise." Olivia nodded before leaning in and kissing him lightly. "You ready?" he asked quietly.

"Yep," Olivia nodded before opening the car door and stepping out onto the sidewalk. She smoothed out her dark wash jeans, which hugged her thighs and fell to the ground. They were widely flared at the bottom, mostly covering her brown rounded toe heels. She adjusted her ivory turtleneck, which fit tightly around her bust and waist falling just above the thick brown belt on her jeans. Mark walked around the front of the car and over to Olivia. He smiled, kissing her on the cheek before taking her hand in his and pulling her lightly up toward the house. Olivia stood next to Mark on the porch as he knocked loudly on the front door. After just a few minutes the door clicked open and an older man, who Olivia assumed to be Mark's father, stood in the doorway.

"Dad!" Mark exclaimed as his father stepped out onto the porch and hugged his son. Olivia stepped back and smiled as she watched her boyfriend hug his father. Mark's father had strong facial features and a full head of thick, wavy, silver hair. He was only a few inches taller than his son and well built for his age. After letting Mark go, he turned to Olivia, who was still smiling lightly.

"And who is this beautiful lady?" his father said, grinning.

"Dad, this is my girlfriend, Olivia Benson," Mark said lightly rubbing Olivia's lower back. "Olivia, my dad, Eric James."

"Nice to meet you Mr. James," Olivia said smiling, extending her hand.

"Okay," Eric began as he interlocked his hand with Olivia's. "Firstly, no more of that Mr. James nonsense. Mr. James was my father, god rest his soul, and you are required to call my wife and I by our first names. Got it?"

"I think I can do that," she said laughing lightly.

"Why don't we all go inside before we freeze our asses off out here?" Mark suggested. Eric and Olivia laughed lightly as they all walked into the house.

"Eric! Is that Mark?" Olivia heard a woman call from a room at the end of the hallway.

"Yes mother," Mark called back laughing. He took Olivia's hand in his before guiding her down the hallway and into the kitchen where an older woman, was bent over a wine glass, pouring red wine into it. She was much smaller than her husband, but also very well dressed, her dark red almost brown 

hair was straightened and flipped out at the ends. Olivia assumed her to be more high maintenance than her husband, but still appeared to be kind-hearted and welcoming. "Something that you must know about my mother," Mark said releasing Olivia's hand and walking over to his mother, who was smiling. "Is that for forty years, she has not parted with her red wine," he added smiling before hugging his mother.

"I'm a wino, what can I say," she said laughing as she kissed Mark on the cheek. "This must be Olivia that I keep hearing so much about." Olivia smiled as she walked toward Mark's mother.

"It's nice to meet you Mrs. James," she said. She heard James jokingly clear her throat behind her. She laughed lightly as she looked over her shoulder slightly.

"I'm guessing that my husband told you about the name thing," she said. Olivia nodded, smiling. "Well, it's so great to finally meet you after everything that Mark has told us. And please call me Rose."

"Thank you for having me for the weekend," Olivia said graciously.

"Oh Olivia, please. We're happy to have you," Rose said. After talking for a few minutes in the kitchen, Rose poured Olivia a glass of wine and she and Mark followed Rose and Eric into the living room. Mark and Olivia sat on the couch, Mark hand caressed Olivia's thigh lightly as he and Olivia talked to his parents.

"So Mark tells me that you are a detective with New York," Rose said. "I can't believe that. How long have you been doing that?"

"Uh, it will be going on about nine years now," she answered.

"Wow. I just can't believe that you are a detective with how gorgeous you are. I guess I have that idea In my head that female cops are all butch tough and rough looking," she said laughing lightly.

"Well she's rough, and tough believe me," Mark said sarcastically. Olivia slapped him lightly in the chest with the back of her hand. Everyone laughed as Eric stood up and walked into the kitchen.

"So what are the plans for tonight mom?" Mark asked.

"I made reservations at a new restaurant on main street called Bistro 19 or 21 or some kind of number at 7:00. I hope that's okay?" she said.

"Sounds good," Mark said before looking at his watch. "You know what mom, its 5:30 now. I think I am going to head upstairs and jump in the shower before we leave and get settled and everything in the guest room," Mark said standing up. "You want to come with me babe," he asked holding out his hand.

"Sure," she said taking his hand and standing up.

"Sweetheart, get your father to help you with your bags," Rose said.

"Oh, it's fine mom, we just have two smaller ones," we can handle it. After getting their bags from the car Mark and Olivia walked up the stairs and down the narrow hallway into the guest bedroom.

"Ok, so your parents are absolutely amazing," Olivia said setting down her bag and walking further into the room.

"See I told you not to be nervous about anything. I knew that they were going to love you." He put the bags against the wall before closing the door and walking over to Olivia. "I'm happy that you decided to come." Olivia smiled before leaning in and kissing him. She felt his hands on her hips as she brought her arms around his neck as the kiss deepened.

Olivia stood in the bathroom, and looked In the mirror as she slid her bronze hoop earrings into her ear. She slid her arms through the sleeves of her dark denim jacket, which was being paired with a plain ivory wrap dress and her brown heeled boots. She turned off of the light of the guest bathroom before walking out into the bedroom.

Mark turned around still buttoning up his blue dress shirt. "Can you look bad just once in your life?" he asked with a smile.

"I have, you just never get to see it because I don't want to scare you," she said with a smile as she sat on the edge of the bed. Mark laughed before turning back to the full length mirror. After a few moments of silence, Olivia cleared her throat softly. "Hey babe?"

"Yeah," he said, tucking his shirt into his black pants.

"Do you remember after dinner the other night when you said that you think that you were falling in love with me?"

"Of course," he answered suspiciously, turning around. "Why?"

"Are you upset that I didn't say anything back?" she asked nervously. Mark raised his brow slightly before slowly walking across the room toward her. "I mean, I've been thinking about it for days, and I know that it's been six months and most people say it that far into it and," she said quickly before stopping as Mark kneeled down in front of her, and placed his finger over her mouth.

"Shut up," he said softly. Olivia lowered her eyebrows, ready to fight back when he took his hand away from her mouth and framed her face with his hands. "I love you," he began softly. "You do more for my physically, emotionally and mentally than I think that you c "ould ever know. I want you to always tell me how you feel, but only when you're ready." Olivia felt her eyes begin to water as she glanced down at her lap. "Sweetie don't cry, you'll ruin your make up. You look so beautiful tonight," he said with a small smile. Olivia looked back up at him as a small tear rolled down her cheek. Mark reached up and wiped the tear from her cheek with his thumb. "Talk to me baby, what's wrong?" After a slight pause, Olivia took his hand in hers.

"I. I love you," she said softly, her lips curling up into a faint smile. Mark smiled before leaning in and kissing her lightly.

"I love you too," he said softly with a smile. Olivia smiled back before leaning in and kissing him again.

"Alright, finish getting ready. I'm going to head downstairs and wait with your parents," she said standing up. She kissed him on the cheek lightly before walking out of the room.

"Olivia, you look gorgeous once again," Rose said as Olivia walked into the living room to find Ruth sitting in the armchair, reading a magazine.

"Thank you. Mark is just finishing up so he should be down shortly." Olivia sat across from Rose in the middle of the couch. "Where's Eric?"

"Upstairs. I'm thoroughly amazed at the fact that we are downstairs, ready to go, and the men are still getting ready," Rose said laughing.

"Yeah, I'm usually ready before Mark most of the time anyways," Olivia said with a smile. Rose laughed as James and Mark walked down the stairs and into the living room.

"Yeah but then look at me and then look at you," Mark said sarcastically walking over to the side of the couch.

"Hey now!" Olivia exclaimed laughing.

Two days later Olivia walked into the squad room just as Elliot was coming out of Cragen's office. "Morning," Olivia said as she walked toward her desk and hung her jacket on the back of her chair.

"Hey, how were the parents?" Elliot asked, dropping the file on his desk before walking over to the side of hers.

"It went really well. I actually had a good time," she said sitting down.

"Imagine that. I told you that it would be fine," he said before walking over to the coffee station.

"Is that the file on the Burrows case?" Olivia asked loudly.

"Yep, just waiting for your signature," he said looking over his shoulder.

Two and a half months later, Olivia and Mark walked up the walkway to his parent's house. "You are going to love my brothers and sisters," he said kissing her lightly on the cheek. "And just so you know, Christmas Eve at my parents house is usually pretty crazy so just beware."

"I think I can manage," she said with a light laugh. Mark turned the doorknob of the front door, pushing it open. Four little kids, all appearing to be under the age of six or seven were running down the stairs and down the hallway into the kitchen. Mark slowly closed the door behind him before taking Olivia's hand in his.

"Hello!" he called walking into the living room where his two brothers and three sisters were all talking, some standing by the fire place, other sitting on the furniture. Yelling filled the room as Mark and Olivia turned the corner and stood in the archway. Olivia smiled as Mark's family welcomed them loudly, just as Mark had warned. Olivia was soon introduced to Mark's two older brothers and sister, and two younger sisters, and later found herself in the kitchen with Mark, and his oldest brother David and his wife Lisa.

"So you two have been dating for how long now?" Lisa asked before taking a sip of her wine.

"Uh, just under nine months," Mark said, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Olivia you should know that you are the first girl that Mark has ever brought home, and from what I understand, you were here two months ago. You must be pretty special," David said.

"I'd like to think so," Olivia said with a smile before kissing Mark lightly on the cheek. "so how long have you two been married?" she asked.

"It will be twelve years next month," Lisa answered. Olivia's eyes widened.

"Wow. That's amazing. Congratulations," Olivia praised.

After dinner, Olivia stood in the living room, talking with Eric and Megan, Mark's sister. Mark stood beside her, rubbing her lower back lightly as he sipped his bottle of beer. "Are you guys staying here tonight?" Megan asked as she bent down and picked up her two year old daughter.

"Yeah," Mark answered. "I think that mom would die if one of us decided that we would rather stay in a hotel." Eric and Megan laughed lightly. "Speaking of mom, where is she?"

"I think that she just went upstairs to grab a sweater or something," Eric answered.

"I'm going to go and see if I can find her. Excuse me," he said kissing Olivia's cheek lightly and walking toward the stairs. He walked up the stairs and down the hall to his mother's bedroom, the door half closed. He knocked lightly on the door before opening it slowly. "Mom," he said softly, "You in here?"


	3. It Should Have Been Me Instead of Her

"Yeah sweetie, c'mon in," Rose said walking around the bed.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked closing the door behind him.

"Oh nothing, I was getting a little cold so I came up to get a sweater," she said sitting on the edge of the bed. "I'm glad that you brought Olivia to meet everyone."

"Yeah, she seems to be getting along with everyone really well. Everyone keeps telling me how much they love her." Mark sat down on the bed next to his mother. Rose looked down at her lap as a silence filled the air. "Are you okay?" Mark asked softly, rubbing his mom's back. He watched as his mother's eyes began to water slightly. "Mom, what's wrong?" She shook her head lightly. Mark wrapped his arms around his mother, pulling her into a hug. She softly rested her chin on her son's neck as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sick baby," she said softly. "And I can't fix it." Mark felt his stomach sink down to his feet as he released his mother, and brought her face in front of his. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she took her son's hands in hers.

"Mom," Mark said softly as his eyes fell sullen. "Mom, no."

"Oh, sweetie," she said wrapping her arms around her son's neck. She felt Mark cry lightly into her shoulder. After a few minutes, Mark pulled out of his mother's hug. He wiped his eyes, and cheeks before holding his mother's hands in his.

"Mom, who knows?" he asked, his voice sullen and soft.

"Your father. I wanted to tell everyone, but with it being Christmas Eve, I don't want to ruin the atmosphere," she said, her eyes still watering slightly.

"Mom, you have to tell them," he said.

"I know, I will. Just not right now," she answered.

"Mom," Mark began, before looking down to his mother's hands, which were tightly embraced in his. "How much longer?" He heard his mother sigh lightly before feeling her hands tighten even more in his. He looked back up to his mother's face, her eyes said and slightly wet. "Mom," he prodded.

"Four months," she said softly, in almost a whisper. She watched as Mark's eyes dropped to the floor, as he lost all sense of strength. "Darling," she said as she scooted closer to Mark and pulled him into a tight embrace. For what seemed like forever to both mother and son, they hugged and cried. After a few minutes, Ruth released her son and framed his face in her hands, wiping away his tears with her thumbs. "I love you-and your brothers and your sisters. I love your father. I would never want to leave you in this way. I want to have the memories that I would have had even if I wasn't dying." Mark sniffled before leaning in and kissing her on the cheek lightly.

"Ok," he said softly before standing up in front of his mother, taking both her hands in his. She stood up in front of her son. "I love you mom." Rose smiled before rubbing Mark's shoulders.

"Okay let's get back down there before we miss something. Something is bound to get broken with all of our little munchkins running around. Plus, I have yet to sit down with your beautiful girlfriend," she said smiling before heading toward the door. "I couldn't ask for anyone better for you."

"Yeah, she is pretty amazing," he said with a smile as he followed his mother out of the room. They walked downstairs and into the living room where the majority of the family was standing and sitting, talking in small groups. Mark walked around the couch and over toward Olivia who was talking to his father and oldest sister. He wrapped his arm around her waist before kissing her. She smiled as they parted before she felt Mark pull her into a hug. "I love you," he whispered in her ear as he held her tight.

Olivia stirred in her sleep later that night. She opened her eyes slowly to find herself alone in the bed. She sat up and looked around the dark guest room for any sign of Mark. She slid her legs around to the side of the bed for slowly standing up. She grabbed Mark's dress shirt off of the floor beside the bed before walking slowly and quietly out into the hall, being careful not to wake anyone. She walked toward the stairs, taking each step slowly and softly. She heard voices coming from what she guess to be the kitchen downstairs. She slowly walked down the hall, but stopped when she heard Eric and Mark's voices in the kitchen, both talking rather softly. She leaned up against the wall.

"How long have you known?" she heard Mark ask.

"A couple of months. She went into the doctor's and when her tests came back positive the doctors were concerned. Before we knew it she was going in for chemo and radiation every three to four days," Eric answered, his voice soft and sad. There was a silence before Eric sighed. "It should have been me instead of her."

"Dad, she would never want that," Mark said.

"True. She's too damn tough to let this stop her, and too damn kind to want this to happen to anyone else. I can't sit here and wait for her to leave me. I can't sleep knowing that one day she isn't going to be there or make us dinner and realize that I will no long need two plates." Olivia looked down at the floor before quietly turning away and walking down the hall and up the stairs. She climbed back into the bed before rolling over to her back. She stared at the ceiling as a small tear rolled down her cheek.

Olivia woke up the next morning to find Mark asleep beside her. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table-9:04 am. She slid across the bed slowly before softly cuddling up next to Mark. She felt him stir as he wrapped his arm around her waist, and continued to sleep. Olivia drifted back to sleep for another hour until she felt Mark release his grip on her and get out of bed. She rolled over and slowly opened her eyes to see Mark standing over their suitcase. He turned around after a few moments to find Olivia awake, still laying in the bed, slightly propped up by all of the pillows.

"Well good morning," he said with a smile as he walked back toward the bed. Olivia smiled as she sat up. She scooted to the center of the bed as Mark climbed back into the bed. He leaned in and kissed her. She brought her hand to his jaw as the kiss deepened slightly.

"Merry Christmas," she whispered as they parted. Mark turned and opened the drawer of the bedside table and pulled out a single, small white square box with a gold and red ribbon tied around it.

"For you," he said handing it to her. Olivia smiled as she took the small box from him. "Merry Christmas baby." Olivia untied the bow and slowly opened the lid to the box to find a silver diamond banded ring with small diamonds embedded in the band. She looked up at Mark, stunned at the present. Mark slowly reached up and took the box from Olivia. "Even though it's a little childish, I wanted to buy you something that shows you what you mean to me," he took the ring out of the box and took Olivia's hand in his. "By you wearing this, you have my absolute promise to always love and support you. I will always be there for you and will never do anything to hurt you. This promise ring, if that's what you want to call it, is a symbol of my promise to you, forever. I wanted to get you something that you could wear and look at everyday and know that I am with you, and that I love you." He slid the ring onto her right, ring finger. Olivia smiled lightly as she leaned forward and kissed Mark.

"Thank you sweetie. I love it. And I love you," she said kissing him again. She laughed as she felt Mark push her back and lean over top of her. She felt his lips on hers and he kissed her. "Okay! Okay!" she said laughing, sitting up. She got up off of the bed and walked over to the suitcase. She unzipped the top pocket and pulled out a shirt box, wrapped in red wrapping paper with a smaller box on top. "Ok, so Merry Christmas baby," she said walking back over to the bed and handing him the present. She walked back over to the suitcase and pulled out her dark pants. She listened as Mark unwrapped the present. She pulled on her black jeans which fit her snuggly around her thighs and fell to the floor. She pulled off her cami and changed into a white v-neck shirt and slid her arms through the sleeves of a fitted light denim jacket. She turned around to find Mark lifting off the lid of the shirt box, revealing a white polo shirt with red and brown stripes.

"Olivia, nice babe!" he exclaimed lifting up the shirt out of the box. Olivia laughed at his exclamation.

"You like it?" she said walking toward the bed.

"Oh my gosh yes, are you kidding me," he said placing it back into its box. He lifted the smaller box up off of the bed and opened the lid revealing a gold and silver watch. The same watch that he had pointed out in a window display downtown earlier in the month. "Are you serious right now?" he said looking up at her. Olivia nodded and smiled as she stopped next to the bed. Mark took the watch out of the box and clasped it around his wrist.

"Does it fit?" Olivia asked. "Because if not, the guy say that the links just sort of click off the links if you need to make it smaller.

"It's perfect," Mark said looking up at Olivia. A smile came across his face as he stood up on his knees so that he was level with Olivia's eyes. "Thank you baby." He kissed her lightly, as he rested his hands on her hips. He felt her arms rest on his shoulders and her fingers lightly caressing the back of his neck. Suddenly a knock sounded at the door, causing Olivia and Mark to jump a little. They looked at the door which opened slowly.

"You kids awake?" Rose asked peeking her head slightly around the door.

"Yeah, mom. Come on in," Mark said. Rose walked around the door and into the room. "Merry Christmas." Mark got up off of the bed and walked over to his mother.

"Merry Christmas sweetie," Rose said hugging her son after kissing his cheek lightly. Olivia smiled watching Mark hug his mom. "Olivia, darling. Merry Christmas," Rose said with a smile after releasing Mark.

"Merry Christmas Rose," Olivia said as Ruth hugged her too.

"The little ones are all downstairs waiting for everyone to come down so they can open their gifts," she said with a small laugh. "Eric is cooking away in the kitchen, but it's basically a help yourself kitchen so just grab you want." Olivia smiled as she looked over to Mark who was pulling on a plain black t-shirt.

"Mom, I am just going to throw on some pants here and we will be down."

"Okay, well I will see you guys down there," she said smiling before turning and leaving the room. Olivia turned around and began making the bed as Mark finished getting dressed. There was a moment of silence before Mark zipped up the top of his bag.

"Olivia, my mom has cancer," Mark said plainly as he turned to face Olivia who was placing the pillow up against the headboard. She looked up at Mark, his demeanor had changed, and there was sadness in his voice, which was acceptable considering the circumstances. "She told me yesterday, when I left to go upstairs and find her. This is my last Christmas with my mom." Olivia felt her eyes begin to water slightly, but did everything in her power to hide it so that he knew that she was there for him during this hard time. "I just thought that you should know what's up."

"Mark, I'm-I don't even know what to say. I'm just so incredibly sorry." She walked toward him, sympathy in her voice. She wrapped her arms around Mark's neck and embraced him tight. She felt his chin rest lightly on the side of her temple as his arms wrapped around her waist. "I'm here for you, no matter what happens okay," she said softly.

"Thank you," he said releasing her. "I love you so much right now like I don't even think that you know." She smiled lightly before standing up and kissing him lightly. "I'm going to go downstairs."

"Okay. Let me make up my face a little bit and I will be down," she said.

Mark kissed her on the cheek before walking out of the room. Ten minutes later Olivia walked out of the bathroom and downstairs. The young kids were all seated in the middle of the floor practically buried in all of the different colored wrapping paper. Olivia walked into the kitchen to find Eric standing over the stove.

"Good morning Miss Benson," Eric said as Olivia walked into the kitchen. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you," Olivia said smiling.

"Can I get you anything? Eggs? Pancakes? Waffles? Rack of Lamb?" he asked sarcastically. Olivia laughed as she shook her head.

"I'm good. I was actually just going to bother you for a cup of coffee," she said.

"No bother at all, but considering I am like buried in grease here, how do you feel about getting it yourself?" he asked nodding to the coffee pot on the counter.

"Oh I don't mind at all," she said walking over to the counter. "Thank you again for having me. I'm not used to doing the whole family, Christmas thing," she told him as she poured coffee into a mug.

"Olivia, you are welcome whenever. Ruth and I love seeing our son and since you are the primary reason for his happiness, you are absolutely more than welcome," he said looking up from the stove. Olivia smiled as she placed the coffee pot back on the holder.

"Thank you," she said as she walked into the living room.

Olivia walked into the squad room in the early afternoon, the day after Christmas to find Elliot coming through the side doors with Fin.

"Hey," Olivia said walking toward her desk.

"Hey, how was Christmas with the parents?" Elliot asked as he draped his jacket on the back of his chair.

"Good," Olivia said smiling. "How was uh, Christmas in the Stabler household?"

"Let's just say I have wrapping paper coming out of my ears," he said smiling. Olivia laughed lightly as she opened the top drawer of her desk and pulled out a red envelope.

"Merry Christmas," she said standing up and reaching over the desks, handing him the card. Elliot ripped opening the envelope and pulled out the card. After reading the front, he opened the card to find a 75 gift card to one of Elliot's favorite restaurants in Queens. "I figured you and Kathy could get out for a night."

"Nice. Thanks Liv," he said. Olivia smiled before walking over to the coffee station.

Two hours later Elliot and Olivia climbed out of the squad car after pulling up to a taped off crime scene that was swarming with CSU technicians and uniformed officers. They ducked under the crime scene tape and were soon greeted by another cop.

"You two from Special Victims?" he asked walking up to them.

"Detective Benson," Olivia said holding up her badge. "My partner Detective Stabler," she added motioning to Elliot.

"Body was found in the dumpster in the alley around eight this morning when the garbage collector came around," the officer said leading them to the alley. "M.E. is examining the body now." Elliot and Olivia walked away from the officer and into the alley.

"Morning," Warner said looking over her shoulder. "I know your case load is heavy detectives but this one is definitely yours. Meet Allison Voschel," she said handing Elliot the victims driver's license in an evidence bag. Elliot and Olivia both squatted down beside Warner. Bruises and abrasions covered the victim's body, but the most apparent wound was seen on her temple just to the upper right of her eye. "Body temp measurements and rigor puts time of death late last night early this morning. There's not gravel or dirt on the front of the body so she wasn't killed here. Heavy bruising on her thighs with apparent semen so I'll run the rape kit.," Warner told them.

"Any idea what she was hit with?" Elliot asked.

"Not sure, but whatever it was it was likely what killed her, knocking her unconscious and causing her to bleed out. I'll know more after autopsy," she replied.

"Alright. We'll check out the residence and get John and Fin down here to canvas," Elliot said standing up. Olivia nodded good bye to Warner before following Elliot out of the alley.

Four hours later, Elliot, Olivia, John, Fin and Cragen stood in the squad room and discussed their newest case. Olivia sat on the surface of her desk, her feet resting on the chair while her colleagues stood around the LCD display board.

"Victim's name, is Allison Voschel, 18 lived with her parents and was a senior at Hanover Day School. Killed sometime last night between the hours of eleven and one. Body was dumped in the dumpster of an alley off of Lexington," Elliot said.

"Body shows signs of physical abuse prior to her murder, which, according to Warner's preliminary autopsy reports, was caused by a fatal blow to her head. No weapon matching the wound pattern or with the victims blood on it was found on the scene," Olivia added before picking up her ringing desk phone.

"We talked to her parents, who can't think of anyone that their daughter had a problem with at school. Her biological father died when Allison was eight, and two years later her mother married Edward Morrison. As of right now, they are legally separated but he came to Mrs. Voschel's home to talk to us. Allson was a straight A student, president of the debate team, varsity swimmer on the swim team, she did it all," Elliot said.

"What about a boyfriend?" Cragen asked.

"If she had one, her parents didn't know about him," Elliot said.

"Whenever Olivia is off of the phone, go and talk to the principal at Hanover Day. Find out if there were any scuffles between classmates that the Voschel's don't know about," Cragen ordered. "John. Fin. Head over to CSU and light a fire under their asses. It's been hours since the body was found, they have to have something." Just as Cragen finished, Olivia placed her phone back on the receiver.

"That was Warner. She wants to see us in her office ASAP," Olivia sat sliding off of the desk and putting on her jacket. Elliot walked around the desks and grabbed his jacket before following Olivia out of the squad room.


	4. Because It's His Baby

Olivia sat at her desk in the squad room late that night. The room was dark with only her desk light lit. She looked over the notes that she had taken on the case. Warner had submitted her autopsy 

reports earlier in the day, and CSU had also run a number of tests on the crime scene. She glanced at her watch-9:53 before taking out the folder with the Voschel family's financial statements. Cragen walked into the squad room and stopped as he noticed Olivia at her desk. He walked over slowly causing her to look up.

"You do know that it is ten o'clock right?" he said walking toward Olivia's desk. "Even if you find something there's nothing that you can do tonight." Olivia sighed before looking back down at the paperwork in front of her. After a few seconds Olivia's eyes showed that she had found something. "What?" Cragen asked noticing that Olivia's expression had changed.

"When Allison's mother and stepfather separated, they eliminated their joint bank account and each opened a new one in their name," Olivia said.

"Which is understandable," Cragen said, unsure of where Olivia was headed.

"Near the end of every month, Morrison withdrew a hundred dollars out of his own account, and within a few days Allison deposited a hundred dollars into the account that her mother opened up for her," she said handing him the bank statement.

"He was paying her off," Cragen suggested as he looked at the paperwork. "For what?"

"Allison was just under three months pregnant when she was killed. Her mother left Morrison in October, where the payments start. What if Morrison was paying her off to keep her quiet about her pregnancy," Olivia suggested.

"Because it's his baby," Cragen said catching on.

"Warner's report says that Allison's body shows signs of repeated sexual abuse. If Allison's mother finds out about her soon to be ex-husband raping her daughter, it not only gives her more leverage in divorce proceedings but sends the bastard to jail," she added.

"At three months, Allison realizes that she is running out of time to hide her pregnancy and threatens to tell her mother about Morrison. He tries to negotiate with her but she doesn't budge and he kills her," Cragen formulated handing Olivia the bank statements. Olivia nodded setting the statements back down on her desk. "Talk to Casey in the morning about getting Morrison's DNA to test against that of the baby," Cragen said. "Go home Olivia, get some rest."

"Okay," Olivia sighed before turning off her desk lamp and standing up. After saying goodnight to the captain, Olivia flipped open her cell phone and dialed Mark's number. She walked out of the squad room as she waited for Mark to answer.

"Hello?" Mark said into the receiver after grabbing his ringing cell phone off of the bedside table.

"Hey babe," Olivia said softly, fearing that she may have woken him up. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, I'm just laying here watching tv in bed. Where are you?" he asked as he turned down the volume to the tv.

"Oh, I'm just leaving the office now. It's been kinda a crazy day," she said walking into the elevator.

"Awe, I'm sorry sweetie. Why don't you come over and lay here with me to take your mind off of it," he said. Olivia smiled as the elevator doors closed.

"Ok, I'll be there in a little bit."

"The door is unlocked so just come in," he told her.

"Ok, I'll see you soon," she said stepping out of the elevator.

"Alright, I love you."

"Love you too," she said as she stepped out into the cold December air.

Twenty minutes later Olivia walked down the hall toward Mark's apartment. She quietly opened the door to Mark's dark apartment. "Olivia!" Mark called from the bedroom down the hall. Olivia set her bag down on the floor by the door and walked down the hall, where she found Mark sitting up against the headboard, the TV on.

"Hey," she said walking further into the bedroom.

"Hey babe," Mark said scooting off the bed as Olivia took off of her jacket and set it on the armchair in the corner of the room. "Rough day?" he asked before kissing her lightly.

"You have no idea," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt his arms tighten around her waist. After a few moments they parted, and Olivia kissed Mark lightly before unbuttoning her red collared shirt revealing a white camisole which hugged her body tightly. "There are so many things going through my head right now, all I want to do is like lay with you to get my head in better place." Mark jumped backward onto the bed dramatically, causing Olivia to laugh as she lowered her jeans, revealing red lace underwear.

"Well at least I got you to smile," he said. Olivia smiled as she stepped forward and bent down, kissing him. She felt his hands of her jaw as the kiss deepened. She leaned forward causing Mark to lay on his back as she kneeled on the bed, continuing to kiss him.

Olivia stirred as the alarm on her phone rang from the bedside table. She lifted her head off of the pillow and reached over, turning off the alarm. She noticed she sat up in the bed that she was alone. After rubbing her eyes she good out of bed and walked across the room to the dresser. She opened the top drawer which was filled with some of her clothes that she had kept at Mark's place. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a black, button up collared shirt. She laid them on the bed and walked out of the bedroom and through the apartment where she found Mark leaning against the counter, already dressed for work.

"Morning baby," he said softly as Olivia walked toward him.

"Morning," she said as she kissed him lightly. "Do you care if I take a shower?"

"Not at all. I have a meeting in like a hour so I'm going to be leaving here shortly. The door will lock when you leave," he explained.

"Okay. I shouldn't be too long."

"Take your time. Call me after work and maybe we'll do dinner tonight," he said rubbing her hip.

"Okay," Olivia said with a smile. "Have a good day at work." She turned to head back to the bathroom but felt Mark grab her arm and pull her back toward him. He leaned in and kissed her, and watched as she smiled when they parted.

"I love you," he said softly.

"Love you too," she said before turning again toward the bathroom.

"Call me," he called.

"I will," she called back as she walked back down the hall.

Olivia and Elliot sat in Cragen's office as they waited for Warner to call confirming that the baby's DNA matched Eric Morrison. Elliot sat in one of the chairs in front of Cragen's desk while Olivia's paced back and forth, stopping in front of the two way mirror. They had already interrogated Morrison who had denied the accusations against him.

"What the hell is taking so long?" Olivia asked anxiously. But just as Olivia asked, Cragen's desk phone rang.

"Yeah," he said into the receiver. Olivia and Elliot watched anxiously as Cragen listened to whoever was on the other end. Casey slowly walked into the office, and paused after noticing the silence. Cragen hung up the phone, and stood up. "We got the bastard. DNA from Eric Morrison matches that of Allison's baby." Olivia clenched her jaw in satisfaction.

"We still don't have enough for charging him with the murder, but plenty for the rape," Casey announced. "Arrest him." Elliot and Olivia nodded before walking out of the captain's office. They walked out of the squad room and down the hall into the interrogation room where Morrison was being held. Elliot opened the door, and nodded to the officer who was standing in the corner.

"Stand up," Elliot said forcefully to Morrison who was seated at the table. Morrison obeyed, but stood up slowly. Elliot walked over behind him, grabbing his wrists, pulling them behind his back.

Olivia walked forward and stopped in front of the table so that she was directly across from Morrison. "Eric Morrison, you are under arrest for the rape of Allison Voschel. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to any attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed to you by the court. Do you understand your rights as I have read them to you?" She followed Elliot, who had a tight grip on Morriscon, out of the squad room. "Do you understand you rights?' she asked more forcefully.

"Yes," Morrison said in a defeated tone. Olivia smirked as she followed them into the squad room, where Morrison was printed and booked.

By six o'clock, Morrison was arraigned and sitting in Rikers and the unit was in celebratory mood. Elliot, Olivia, John and Fin walked into the squad room after Morrison was arraigned. "Anyone up for a drink?" Fin asked as he walked over to his desk. Just as Olivia was about to answer, her cell phone vibrated from inside her jean's pocket.

"Hello," she said into the receiver.

"Hey babe," Mark said on the other line.

"Hey, hun what's up?" she said as she walked over to her desk.

"Not much, I just got out of a meeting with a client who is very interested in our company," he said. "So I'm on my way back to the office to fax a couple of things over to my boss and then I get to spend the night with my most amazing girlfriend." Olivia smiled as she grabbed her purse out of the bottom door of her desk. "How's the case?"

"Finished. We are all about to go out for some drinks to celebrate," she said. "How long are you going to be?"

"I don't know. I'll probably be out of the office by seven. Where are you guys going for drinks?"

"Um, probably McKibbins," Olivia answered.

"Do you just want me to pick you up there after I leave the office?"

"No, don't worry about it. I'm just going to go for a few drinks and then I'll take a cab and meet you for dinner," Olivia said.

"Babe, it's no problem. It's like ten minutes from the office. I'll come when I leave."

"You sure?" she asked.

"Positive. Go with the guys and I'll see you in a little bit sweetie, okay?"

"Alright, I love you," she said smiling.

"Love you too."

Olivia closed the lid of her phone as Cragen walked out of his office. "We going or what?" he said. The group laughed and walked out of the squad room.


	5. What's It Like?

Twenty minutes later, Olivia leaned her back against the bar and sipped her mixed drink of vodka and sprite. Fin and Elliot were occupied in conversation, both with beers in front of them on the counter. Olivia stood between John and Cragen, discussing with them the Voschel case.

"That's good work Olivia. Figuring out the money," Olivia smiled as she took another sip of her drink. After twenty minutes Olivia was on her second drink when she noticed Mark walk through the front doors of the bar, looking around the room for her. She turned quickly setting her drink on the bar before walking over to him.

"Mark," she called, catching his attention, along with the attention of her colleagues.

"Hey," he said smiling as he walked toward her. She kissed him lightly as she felt his hand on her back. She kissed him again before turning around toward the guys, who were all trying not to make it obvious that they were looking at her. She laughed as she nodded at Mark to follow her to the bar. Olivia felt a little bit awkward, being that other than Elliot, none of her colleagues had ever met Mark, let alone even known about him.

"Guys, this is Mark James," she said, figuring that the best way to approach the situation was to just go for it. "Mark, Fin, John, Don my captain, and you already know Elliot," she introduced motioning to the respective people. Mark shook all of their hands before, rubbing Olivia's lower back.

"So are you two sticking around or what? What are your plans for the night?" Elliot asked.

"Uh, I don't know," Olivia said looking up at Mark. "I think we were planning on getting a bite to eat." Mark looked down at her and smiled lightly.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to stick around and have a couple drinks," he said looking back at the group. Olivia smiled as she wrapped her arm around Mark's waist.

An hour minutes later, Olivia stood off to the side of the bar and watched Mark, who was sitting next to Elliot at the bar. John and Fin were leaning against the bar on either side of them and were all engaged in conversation. Mark was smiling, joking around as though he had known them for years rather than minutes. Olivia took a sip of her drink as Cragen walked up to her.

"I should have known," he said.

"Known what?" she asked, confused.

"That you were dating someone," he told her. Olivia smiled as she glanced over at Mark.

"Yeah, he's pretty awesome," she replied. Cragen watched as Olivia looked at her boyfriend. "It's crazy you know, I've been in this unit for nine years and have dated any number of different guys. But I have never met anyone who is so supportive of what I do, and who doesn't care about my past."

"How long have you two been dating?" Cragen asked.

"Uh, I'll be nine months next week," she answered before taking a sip of her drink. "Pretty exciting for me considering I think that my longest relationship since I graduated college was maybe four months, so Mark has definitely doubled it."

"Well I'm happy for you Olivia. I sat back and watched the two of you with each other tonight, and the way that you two look at each other. Anybody can tell that you two really do love each other, and I really could not be happier," Cragen told her. Olivia smiled, touched by what her captain had told her.

Two hours later, Olivia slipped into her flannel, capris pajama pants as Mark pulled back the covers of her bedspread. She walked across her bedroom and turned off of the light before climbing into bed. She rested her head on Mark's shoulder, resting her arm on his waist as his hand rubbed her shoulder.

"I had a good time tonight," Mark said softly. "It was nice meeting everyone."

"I feel so lucky to be with you, like I don't even think that you understand," she said. "You were amazing tonight. You fit in perfectly after being thrown into that situation without warning." Mark kissed Olivia's head lightly. "It really meant a lot to me for you to meet and get along with them. I may not have five brothers and sisters and two amazing parents, but they are essentially my family and you willing to get to know them, makes me love you even more." Mark smiled as he pulled the blankets up and watched as Olivia fell asleep on his shoulder.

Elliot walked into the squad room a few months later. John and Fin were standing by the coffee station, each with a cup of coffee in their hands. Elliot took off his jacket before walking over to them.

"Olivia around?" he asked grabbing a cup off of the stack.

"Uh no," John said softly. "She called the captain this morning. Mark's mom died last night, so she won't be in today or tomorrow morning." Elliot eyes widened as he looked down at the floor.

Olivia drove through Mark's parent's neighborhood that morning. Mark had driven in the night before when his father called telling him that his mother had taken a turn for the worse. Olivia turned the car down the James' street and pulled up next to the curb. She turned off the ignition and climbed out of the car. Just as she was halfway up the walkway, Mark opened the front door and stopped when she noticed that it was Olivia walking up the walkway. She smiled softly, realizing that he was surprised to see her.

"I thought that you weren't coming until tomorrow?" he said closing the door behind him and walking down the few stairs of the porch.

"Well I wanted to be here for you, and do whatever I can to help," she said. Mark looked tired, sadness in his eyes. He kissed her cheek lightly before hugging her. She felt his arms tight around her waist, as she wrapped hers around his neck.

"I'm glad you're here," he said between sniffles. "I love you so much." Mark held Olivia in his arms for what seemed like forever. He released Olivia from his grasp, and looked at her. She leaned in and kissed him lightly. Mark took her hand in his and lead her to the house. They walked inside to a rather quiet house. Voices were heard in the kitchen, from who Olivia assumed to be Mark's brothers and sisters. Eric was coming down the stairs as Mark closed the door behind them.

"Olivia," Eric said, surprised to see her. Olivia smiled softly as she noticed Eric's eyes were sullen and sad.

"Hi Eric," she said walking toward him as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "I wanted to be here and help with anything I could."

"I appreciate that," he said before kissing her cheek lightly and hugging her. "Thank you for coming."

"Promise that you will tell me if you need anything," she said as they parted, her hands still on his shoulders. He nodded and smiled lightly before heading toward the kitchen slowly.

Olivia walked into the bedroom later that night to find Mark laying on the bed. His clothes from the day were still on and he was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling.

"Can I get you anything sweetie?" she said softly as she walked further into the guest room. He smiled lightly before sitting up and swinging his legs to the side of the bed.

"I could really use a hug right about now." She smiled as she walked toward the bed and sat down next to him.

"Come here," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. After a few moments, Mark released the embrace and brought his hands up to her face, framing it in his hands.

"I love you," he said softly. Olivia smiled lightly.

"Right back at ya." Mark laid back down but moved to the center of the bed so that Olivia could lay next to him. She rested her head on his chest, and wrapped her arm around the front of his torso. They laid in silence for a couple of minutes listening to only each other breathe and voices from downstairs.

"Hey Liv?" he said softly.

"Yeah."

"What's it like?" he asked.

"What's what like?"

"Burying your mother," he finished plainly. Olivia closed her eyes. She knew that Mark's relationship with his mother was completely different that hers, but had still not told him about her mother's rape. All that she had told him was that her mother had died.

"Mark, my mother and your mother are completely different women," she said softly.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused.

"Well, my mother was an alcoholic and sometimes wasn't the best mom. But you mom was an amazing person, who loved you and your brothers and sisters and dad very much," she said, choosing her words carefully. She didn't want to bring up the fact that she was a product of a rape, because she didn't want to distract Mark from his situation.

"I don't want tomorrow to come," he practically whispered as a couple of tears rolled down his cheeks. Olivia looked up, noticing that Mark was tearing up.

"Oh, sweetie I know," she said sympathetically. She held mark tighter as he sighed, tears continuing.

The next afternoon, Olivia walked into the squad room to find Elliot sitting at his desk, working on some paperwork. Olivia set her bag on the seat of her chair before taking of off her jacket and hanging it on the back of the chair.

"Hey," he said quietly. "How's Mark?"

"He's ok. He's still at his parents finishing up some things," she said sitting down after removing her bag from her chair. "The service was this morning so I left right after it ended." Elliot nodded unsure of how to approach the situation being that it wasn't Olivia's mother that died, but she was still affected by the loss.

Olivia walked down the hall of her apartment building two months later, and stopped at her door. She unlocked the door and stopped in her tracks. Rose petals were scattered on the floor in front of the door and into the living room. She followed the trail of red and white petals into her bedroom, which was filled with vases of roses. She smiled as she walked further into the room but felt her stomach flip upside down when she looked at the bed. Written in rose petals, which stood out against her ivory bedspread, the words 'Will you marry me?" were visible. She stood still, in shock as she heard footsteps behind her. She turned quickly as Mark walked through the door of the bedroom, holding a 

single red rose. He was smiling as he walked closer to her. She didn't know what to say or what to do. She was in such shock she was speechless. "Are you serious?" she managed to stutter out. Mark stayed silent and stopped in front of her. He slowly took her hand in his before getting down on his knee. Olivia's lip quivered as her eyes began to water.

"Olivia Benson," he said softly. She looked down at him as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. "Will you marry me?" He slowly pulled a black box out of his pocket and slowly lifted the lid revealing a silver band embedded with diamonds, with a single large diamond in the center. Olivia smiled as she nodded lightly. "Yes?" he asked, hoping that she was nodding her head as her answer and not because she was crying.

"Yes," she said smilling. Mark grinned as he slid the ring onto her finger. He stood up and wrapped his arms around Olivia's waist and felt her chin on the crook of his neck. She laughed as he picked her up and spun her around in the middle of her bedroom. She felt her feet touch the ground as they parted. She laughed lightly before kissing her fiancé.

Later that night Olivia laid in bed while Mark was in the bathroom. After a few minutes he walked into the bedroom and climbed into bed next to her. She rolled over onto her stomach and sat up on her elbows. "You're sure you want to marry me? I mean I have no family, I've never had anyone in my entire life who loved me, not even my mother, and certainly not my father. Why would anyone be crazy enough to want to marry someone like that?" At first Mark believed that Olivia was partly joking but then noticed the seriousness in her face.

"First of all, you have a family. They're called your colleagues, plus you have my family who loves you. And second of all, your past has nothing to do with how much I love you. I love you for what you have done for me in the past year, especially with my mom, and what you are going to do for me for the rest of my life." Olivia smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him lightly.


	6. Kathy Took Everyone to Her Parents

Three weeks later Olivia walked up the steps of Elliot house, and onto the front porch. She knocked on the front door and stepped back, waiting for an answer. After a few seconds the door clicked open and Elliot stood in the doorway.

"Hi," she said awkwardly. "I was in the neighborhood." Elliot raised his brow, knowing that she was lying and there was a more important reason why she was standing on his front porch.

"You were in the neighborhood?" he asked sarcastically looking at his watch. "And you just got off of work and took a detour through queens." Olivia smiled softly at his sarcasm.

"Ok fine you caught me. I need your help," she confessed.

"Come on in?" he said opening the door wider so Olivia could walk in.

"I'm not interrupting anything am I?" she asked.

"Kathy took everyone to her parents," he said closing the door. Olivia looked at him, in concern. "Just for the weekend. They're coming back. At least I hope," he added with a small laugh knowing what Olivia was thinking. Olivia followed Elliot into the living room and sat down on the couch, across from Elliot, in the arm chair. "What's up?"

"I don't know if I even really have a problem or I'm just over thinking but it's been driving me up a wall. Mark and I have been together for over a year, and in all that time, we never talked about my past," she said.

"Your father," Elliot said. Olivia nodded.

"We sort of talk about my mother here and there, but not about what happened. I mean he knows about the alcoholism, and the abuse and everything like that but not about the rape." Elliot nodded. "I mean it kills me to keep it from him, but I don't even see it like that. I see it like it never came up."

"And you are asking me if you should tell him at all."

"And how," she added. After a few moments Elliot shifted in his chair before leaning forward.

"I can't tell you how to do it, but if you're asking me my opinion I think that you need to tell him. Without a doubt," he told her. Olivia nodded as she glanced down at the floor. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just nervous that's all," she said standing up slowly.

"You'll be fine. If anything he's going to want to comfort you," he said standing up.

"Thanks," she said walking around the coffee table toward the front door.

"You call me if you need to," Elliot said. Olivia nodded before opening the front door and walking toward her car. Thirty minutes later Olivia walked up the stairs of Mark's apartment building and down the hall. She knocked lightly on the door before opening it and walking in to find Mark laying on the couch watching tv.

"Hey gorgeous," he said with a smile. She smiled as she closed the door behind her. She set her bag against the wall and walked over to her fiancé. She bent over and kissed him lightly before walking into the kitchen and taking a wine glass out of the cabinet.

"How was work?" he asked as he walked into the kitchen.

"Okay," she said pouring wine into the glass. After a few moments of silence Mark walked further into the kitchen.

"Everything okay?" he asked. Olivia looked up at him nervously.

"I need to talk to you about something, and it's pretty important," she said softly. Mark's eyes widened slightly fearing that something was wrong. She walked around the island in the middle of the kitchen toward Mark. She took his hand in hers and walked into the living room. Mark sat on the couch as Olivia sat across from him on the edge of the coffee table.

"Mark, I love you and I don't want to keep anything from you about me, but with us getting married here in a matter of months I think that it would be unfair to you if I didn't tell you this," she said as she took both of his hands. Mark raised his brow in confusion as to what Olivia was going to tell him. "Mark you're family, your brothers and sisters and parents. It's something that I don't have, and you know that, but what you don't know is why I don't."

"Olivia I don't care. I mean I care, but regardless of whether you have a family or not I still love you and want to marry you," he told her.

"I know that but it's still important for you to know." Mark nodded. "Mark you know how anytime you or I mention my mother all that we really talk about is her alcoholism and how she treated me."

"Yeah."

"I guess I'm just wondering why you never really asked me about my father."

"I never asked because I wanted you to introduce the reason when you wanted. But now I'm wondering more about it."

"Mark, I don't know my father," she said plainly.

"I figured that was why you never mentioned him," he said.

"Yeah but it's not that simple." Olivia looked down at the floor. "Mark, my mother was raped in 1967. That's primarily why I joined the Special Victims Unit. Um, because of that rape, my mother became pregnant and had me." Mark's mouth opened slightly, stunned at what Olivia was telling him. He looked down at the floor and stood up slowly. Olivia watched as her fiancé walked around the living room slowly. "I know that I should have told you earlier but it never really came up and I was scared about how you would react."

"Olivia, what happened to your mother is wrong and inhumane in every way and I am so sorry about that, but I've known you for over a year. I told you everything about my life, I mean you were there at my mother's funeral, Christmas at my parent's house. How could you not tell me about this?"

"Mark, I'm sorry but it never came up and I didn't know how you would react," she said, her eyes watering slightly.

"Well Olivia, I'm sorry that I never asked you why you don't have a father," he said loudly throwing up his arms in the air.

"Mark, please don't do this. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," she said apologetically. Mark shook his head turning around and walking into the bedroom, closing the door loudly behind him. Olivia felt her stomach flip as tears rolled down her cheeks. She stood up and fell onto the couch as tears continued to fall from her eyes.

An hour later, Mark slowly opened the door of the bedroom and walked down the hall into the empty living room. "Olivia!" he called. Silence filled the air as he walked over to the couch and found a single piece of white paper in the middle of the coffee table. He lifted it up and turned it over, recognizing Olivia's writing on the front.

_Mark- I love you more than anything in this world, and I first just want to apologize for what happened tonight. I never should have kept this from you for so long and for that I am and forever will be sorry. What happened to my mother is something that I live with everyday. Every single time a victims gives Elliot and I her statement, and every single time that I put handcuffs on a man who has raped a woman, I think of my mother. I do this job as sort of an attempt for me to give something back to my mother. Through all of the abuse that I endured I still love her very much. Up until the day I met _

_you I was alone, living through the unit, and doing everything I could to try and convince myself that they were my family. As much as they mean to me, no matter how much I try, I will never have what you have. I never intended to hurt you tonight by telling you that I am a product of a rape (that sounds strange because most people would think that you would comfort me and tell me that it doesn't matter, and the genes that I got from my father and my mother don't matter), and promise not to ever keep something to myself. I'm sorry Mark. Love, Olivia_

Mark felt his eyes water as he threw the paper down on the table. He paced around the living room, knowing that he made a huge mistake, and that he should be the one apologizing to Olivia. He picked up the paper once again and continued o read the last few sentences. He sensed a hurt in her voice, as though she was telling him this, standing in front of him.

Elliot walked through the dark house toward the stairs when a knock sounded at his door. He walked over and opened it to Mark standing on his porch. Elliot raised his brow, surprised to see Mark.

"Mark," he said puzzled.

"I'm an idiot," he said plainly looking at Elliot.

"And I'm wondering how you figured out where I live."

"I looked in the phone book. I knew that you lived in Queens," Mark confessed. "She told me about her father. She told me and I flipped out and ran out like a little kid. I was mad that she didn't tell me earlier without even listening to what she was actually telling me." Mark ran his hands through his hair. "You've known her for forever, what do I do?"

"Can't you two deal with this on your own? Why do you need to come to me?" Elliot said sarcastically.

"Because you have known her for ten years. Help me out man, I don't know what to do," Mark begged. Elliot rolled his eyes.

"No, you're not getting me. Olivia was here earlier tonight asking me whether she should tell you and how," Elliot explained. Mark stared at Elliot, surprised. Elliot nodded before stepping out onto the porch. "What happened to Olivia's mother is terrible, and I can't even imagine doing this job every day knowing that your mother was once a victim, and that you are a result of that terrible moment." Mark nodded.

"I know that now, but I made a huge mistake earlier by getting mad instead of telling her that I love her regardless of what happened to her mother," Mark said looking down at the ground.

"Mark what I think that you don't understand about Olivia's situation is that her mother wasn't just raped. She is a product of the worst moment in her mother's life," Elliot said firmly. He watched at Mark processed what Elliot had told him. Silence filled the space between the two men. "Mark, I know you love her. And she loves you. Go talk to her." Mark nodded as he looked up at Elliot before turning and walking toward the stairs. Elliot smiled lightly before turning back toward his house.

"Elliot!" Mark called from the bottom of the stairs. Elliot turned around quickly. "Thanks," he said softer. Elliot smiled.

"Night," he said as he walked back into the house, closing the front door behind him. Mark walked down the hall of Olivia's floor and stopped in front of her door. He knocked lightly, but after hearing no movement inside the apartment, he knocked louder. After a few moments, the door clicked and opened revealing Olivia, still in her jeans from the day, but with a gray NYPD t-shirt on.

"Mark," Olivia said surprised, but before she could say anything else, Mark quickly stepped through the doorway and brought his hands to Olivia's jaw and kissed her. Olivia brought her hands to Mark's biceps as they parted.

"Olivia, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he said, his eyes watering slightly. "You were right. I should have comforted you instead of walking away. I love you and I want you to talk to me about things when you are ready." Olivia smiled lightly before kissing him again, lightly.

"I'm sorry for not telling you earlier. I was just scared about how you would react," she said as Mark pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck.


	7. Alright Then Hit Me Twice

Three months later Olivia walked into the squad room to find Elliot, Fin and John talking by the coffee station. She nodded to her colleagues as she walked toward her desk and hung her jacket on the back of her chair.

"Morning," she said as she walked toward her colleagues.

"Is it?" John said sarcastically. "Because I drove past the gas station at the corner of my street and to my utter amazement read four dollars per gallon for a gallon of gas." He walked through the group and over to his desk. "Our wonderful government at work."

"How is everything a governmental conspiracy to you?" Fin asked. Elliot and Olivia laughed lightly as they walked toward their desks. Two hours later, Elliot turned the car around a corner as they drove to a crime scene that they were call in to. Olivia flipped open the cover of her phone and replied to the text message from Mark. Elliot looked over causing Olivia to glance up at him.

"You two don't call each other?" he asked with a joking tone.

"No, he texts me if he is in a meeting or something and is really bored," she replied with a soft smile.

"So, how's the wedding planning?" Elliot turned down another road.

"Ok. I have every bride and wedding magazine in my bedroom, along with every single article on the internet about how to plan a wedding. I go to bed every night thinking about something that I read. It's insane. And Mark doesn't really care about any of the small details, just what he is going wear and the location and stuff."

"Pick a date yet?" Elliot stopped the car in front of the curb and turned off the ignition.

"I think something in June or July, but who knows," she answered with a smile. Both opened their doors and stepped out of the car. They stepped under the crime scene tape and were approached by a uniformed officer.

"You from Special Victims?" the officer asked.

"Detective Elliot Stabler, my partner Olivia Benson," he introduced motioning to Olivia.

"Victim was found this morning by her ex husband. Their son and his parents had a meeting with the son's teacher this morning. When the mother didn't show up, he came by the apartment and found the body," the officer told them as he lead them up the stairs to the apartment.

"Name?" Elliot asked as they reached the third floor.

"Sharon Walker. ME is on the scene, and husband is on his way to your precinct," the officer told them. Elliot and Olivia nodded to the officer as they walked into the apartment where CSU technicians and uniformed officers were collecting evidence. Elliot and Olivia walked through the apartment and into the bedroom where Sharon Walker's body laid on the bed. Blood soaked the sheets and Warner stood in the corner of the room, writing notes on her clip board.

"Every time we walk into someone's bedroom, this is the scene," Olivia said as they walked further into the bedroom.

"You're telling me," Warner said walking toward them. Both detectives sighed lightly as they looked from Warner to the body.

"What do you got for us?" Elliot asked.

"Ligature strangulation, late last night early this morning. Multiple stab wounds inflicted post mortem and heavy bruising in the upper thighs and pelvic region. I'll run a rape kit. Semen's present so I'll put it through the system," Warner said.

"He stabs her after she's dead. Why?" Olivia asked shaking her head.

Elliot and Olivia walked out of the interview room later that morning after talking to the victim's husband. They walked into the squad room to find John, Fin and Cragen in front of the LCD display board. "Couldn't tell us anything," Olivia said walking over to her desk. "No one he knows of was harassing or causing problems with his ex wife."

"What about the son?" Cragen asked.

"He's six, and goes to his father's every weekend since the courts ruled joint custody to both parents. He doesn't even know that his mother is dead," Elliot said. Before anyone could say anything else, Olivia's phone rang.

"Benson," she said into the receiver. "You're kidding me. Alright thanks," she said before she hung up the phone. "Warner ran the DNA in the system from Sharon's rape kit, and we got a hit." She walked over to the fax machine by the window and took out the piece of paper. "Meet Thomas Pryer, arrested in '98 for statutory rape. Released on parole in 2005, lives in the Lower East side," she read off of the paper before handing the paper to Cragen.

"Get going," he said to Elliot and Olivia. Forty minutes later, they reached Pryer's apartment building. Elliot knocked on the apartment door.

"Thomas Pryer. Police," he said loudly. After a few moments, and no response Olivia put her ear up to the door.

"TV is on. Someone's home," Her and Elliot took their guns out of their holsters before turning the knob f the door and walking into the apartment. Blood was scattered on the walls and on the floor 

of the apartment. Elliot and Olivia separated and walked through the apartment, their guns drawn. "Bedroom's clear," Olivia shouted.

"Olivia!" Elliot shouted. She hurried through the apartment into the kitchen, where Elliot was standing over the body of Thomas Pryer, blood spattered throughout the kitchen. Olivia looked over to Elliot, the same stunned look in his face.

"What in the hell is going on?" Olivia said as she flipped open the cover of her cell phone.

Two hours later, Elliot and Olivia walked into the squad room. They had canvassed the building, and interviewed some of the neighbors, but no one was able to tell them anything about Pryer. Olivia and Elliot both walked over to their desks, and Olivia threw the folder onto the surface of her desk.

"You get anything from the neighbors?" Cragen asked.

"Nothing. Everyone knew he was a perp and stayed away from him, even with is attempts to get to know his neighbors," Elliot said. Cragen looked down at the floor, trying to figure out what to do.

"CSU is still at the scene. Warner is going to send us her preliminary reports," Olivia said.

"Pryer's COD?" Cragen asked looking up.

"Ligature strangulation. Same was Sharon Walker. He was also stabbed a number of times post mortem. No weapon found on the scene. Time of death was early this morning, between two and four," Ollivia replied.

"There's no way this is a coincidence. Pryer's semen was found on Sharon. Whoever did this either planted the DNA to make it look like he raped Sharon or forced him to," Elliot added.

"What if her and Pryer had consensual sex before she was killed?" Fun asked. Elliot and Olivia looked at each other.

"It's definitely possible," Olivia said. "But if they were seeing each other, why kill them. No one can find a reason as to why someone would want to hurt either of them, and from what we've learned, neither one of them were in a relationship so there was no affair." After a moment of silence, Cragen turned away from the LCD display board.

"Alright, let's treat this as two separate crimes. Elliot. Olivia. Concentrate on Sharon Walker. John and Fin, take care of Pryer. Find a solid connection between the two of them or solidify the romance theory," he said before walking toward his office. Elliot and Olivia walked into the Warner's office, three hours later, where she was seated at her desk. Elliot knocked lightly on the door, pulling her attention away from the report that she was filling out.

"I was just about to call you," she said standing up. "I just finished Pryer's autopsy." She walked around her desk and over to the detectives. "I just got back the test results that I had my assistant run on both victims. Both tests came back positive."

"For what?" Elliot asked.

"Sharon Walker toxicology test came back positive for emtricitabine. It's a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor taken but someone who is HIV positive," she explained handing Sharon's file to 

Olivia. "Thomas Pryer's report came back positive as well, but with traces of lamivudine in his system, an inhibitor also used for the treatment of HIV," she added.

"So, if they were lovers, Pryer either transmitted the HIV to Walker or vise versa," Olivia suggested.

"It's possible," Warner said leading the detectives into the autopsy room where Thomas Pryer's body laid on an examination table. "The injuries on the bodies of both victims were very similar. Same wound diameter for the knife lacerations and the pattern left from the ligature strangulation is almost identical. O'Halloran should be able to tell you more."

"Fiber's left on the victims skin include traces of leather and polyester, which is present on both Walker and Pryer," O'Halleron told Elliot and Olivia, "meaning the same object was used to strangle both of them."

"Any idea what it could be?" Olivia asked.

"Nothing matching the ligature pattern was found at either crime scene, but with a pattern this thick it you're looking for a belt, or some kind of thick strap." Elliot and Olivia nodded, and after getting the remainder of the crime scene information from O'Halleron, left the office and headed back to the precinct.

Olivia glanced at her watch-7:08 PM. She and Elliot walked down the hall and toward the elevators. They agreed to stop investigating for the day, and picking up again in the morning.

"You want to go for a drink?" Elliot asked as they reached the elevator.

"You know I would love to, but I told Mark that we are finalizing some of the decisions for the wedding tonight, and he has to help," she said with a smile as they stepped onto the elevator. Elliot laughed lightly.

"You think you're ready to become Olivia James?" he asked, leaning against the back wall of the elevator.

"Ask me in seven months when I'm standing in my wedding dress in front of a full length mirror," she replied as they reached the bottom floor. The elevator doors opened and Elliot and Olivia walked down the hall and out into the cold air.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Elliot said.

"Yeah,"

"Good luck with the wedding stuff," called as he walked toward the curb.

"Thanks."

Forty five minutes later, Olivia walked into Mark's apartment to find the television, and lights off. "Mark!" she called, but after hearing no reply she turned on the lights before closing the door behind her. She walked into the kitchen and pressed the play button on the answering machine.

_"Hey babe, it's me. One of my meetings was delayed this afternoon so I'm going to be late coming home tonight. I just didn't want you to worry. I should be home no later than nine. See you soon. Love you."_

Olivia smiled as she walked through the apartment and into the bedroom where she changed out of her button up collared shirt and into a blue NYPD sweatshirt and white and gray plaid Capri pajama pants. She walked into the living room and sat down on the couch after grabbing a couple of wedding magazines off of the table. Twenty minutes later, the apartment door clicked open and Mark walked through the doorway.

"Hey babe," she said looking up from her magazines.

"Hey when did you get home?" he asked as he dropped his keys on the table by the door and walked over to Olivia.

"Uh, like thirty minutes ago," she said before he bent down and kissed her lightly. "I have a question about the wedding for you."

"Ok, hit me," he said walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

"Well its more like two questions," she called.

"Alright then hit me twice." He took a bowl of leftover pasta and scooped it into a tupperware container before placing it in the microwave.

"Ok first, what do you think about June 23rd," she asked as he stood in the archway of the kitchen.

"I think that it doesn't matter what day I marry you because in the end, I still get to spend the rest of my life with you," he said leaning up against the wall.

"As sweet as that was," she said with a smile, "June 23rd."

"June 23rd," he repeated with a nod. She smiled as she looked back down to her magazines. A few minutes later, Mark walked in with his pasta and sat on the couch next to Olivia. "So tonight is wedding night."

"Yes, and you are helping mister," she said pointing her pen at him. He smiled as he took a bite of his pasta. "Have you thought about the wedding party at all?"

"A little. I have like the brady bunch sized family so obviously I want my brothers as my groomsmen," he told her. "What about you?"

"Well considering I have no family, and the people that I work with are all men, I thought that I would ask your sisters to be my bridesmaids and Casey my maid of honor," she said smiling.

"So you have Megan, Amber, Shannon and Casey, and I have David, John, Anthony who is the one who I've known since high school, and Greg from college," he finalized. Olivia nodded smiling before looking down at the page in the magazine. "What about colors and the guest list?"

"Well I'm thinking that forty people on my 'side'", she said using her hand motions for the quotes, "with the people at work and their guests and everyone like that. But I think that you want to invite a lot of people. You want like one big party." Mark laughed lightly as he took another bite.

"Obviously my family is huge, but a lot of the friends that I have are from back in college, so I have known them for years and are pretty much my family too," he said. "How about we try and keep it under 175?" Olivia nodded, agreeing before writing it down on her piece of paper.

"Any color preferences?" she asked.

"No pink or yellow. Entirely too girly," he immediately said. Olivia raised her brow and smirked lightly. "Ok I don't think that I have to work about you wanting pink or yellow so forget that I said anything." Olivia laughed.

"What if we did something like champagne sort of color, kind of gold and then a navy blue?" she asked. He looked down at his food and thought about it for a moment.

"I like that. Both of the colors look good with black tuxedos," he told her.

"What if the groomsmen wore gold vests and ties and the bridesmaids did blue dresses?" He nodded smiling.

"See this is why we are a perfect couple to get married. It's like we have one brain," he said with a soft laugh before leaning over and kissing her lightly. She smiled as they parted. "I love you."

"Right back at ya," he said kissing her again.

Olivia walked into the squad room the next morning to find Elliot walking across the squad room, carrying two cups of coffee. "Morning," he said handing her a cup as she walked to her desk.

"Thanks," she said taking it from him. "What's the occasion for the café coffee?"

"Nothing, other than John made the coffee this morning and I thought that you would like this more," he said sarcastically, glancing over his shoulder to John.

"I heard that," he called from his desk, not even looking up from his paperwork. Both Elliot and Olivia laughed as they looked over to John who was bent over his paperwork, a smile across his face. Olivia draped her jacket on the back of her chair before taking a sip of coffee.

"Excuse me," a younger woman said as she walked into the squad room.

"Can I help you?" Olivia asked with a soft smile as she turned around to face the woman.

"I saw on the news last night that Sharon Walker was murdered," she told Olivia. "Is that true?"

"Unfortunately yes," Olivia said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Elizabeth Larson. Joshua Walker's teacher," she said.

Elliot and Olivia lead Elizabeth Larson into the interview room attached to Cragen's office. "Mrs. Larson, has Joshua mentioned to you or maybe some of his classmates any problems that his mother was having?"

"None that he mentioned to me," she said sitting down.

"Mr. Walker told us that you had scheduled a meeting for he and his ex wife to come in to talk," Olivia said. "What was that was about?"

"I meet with the parents of all of my students about halfway through the year to inform them of their child's progress and any problems that need attention," she replied.

"And did you talk to Mr. Walker at all that morning before he left to find his ex wife?" Elliot asked. Larson raised her brow, confused.

"I didn't meet with Mr. Walker yesterday," she said. "Our meeting isn't scheduled until next week." Olivia looked over to Elliot, who was thinking the same thing she was.


	8. Get the Hell Out of Here

"Okay, new theory of events," Olivia said walking from her desk to the display board. "Lucas Walker kills his ex wife, says he discovers the body to draw attention away from suspicion angle and towards the grieving husband and father."

"Phone records show four calls made between Lucas and Sharon the night that she died," Fin said walking over and handing Cragen the phone list. "The first two were forty five seconds max, the third around two minutes and the last almost thirty, made three hours before she died."

"We get a warrant to search his house," Elliot began.

"There's no way a judge is going to issue a search warrant based on what you have," Casey told them. Olivia and Elliot's eyes widened, waiting for an explanation.

"We have their son's teacher telling us that there was not meeting when he told us there was. Phone records proving that they had a conversation hours before she was killed," Olivia told her forcefully.

"And we had Pryer's body with the same COD, killed hours after Sharon and with his semen in Sharon. Not to mention that both of them are HIV positive," Elliot added.

"It's all circumstantial. You have no forensic evidence tying Walker to these murders, no DNA," Casey argued back.

"Bring him in," Cragen said plainly.

"Captain if we show him the evidence against him, he's going to lawyer up," Fin said.

"You heard Casey. If he's not under arrest, he can leave whenever he wants," Cragen said. Elliot and Olivia nodded before turning and putting on their jackets. Elliot and Olivia walked up the steps of Lucas Walker's apartment building. Elliot reached for the door when a crash was heard in the alley next to the building. Olivia glanced at Elliot before leaning over the railing, and looking into the alley where a man in a black jacket and black pants was standing over a garbage can that was rolling on the ground. Olivia looked closer at the man, and realized that it was Lucas Walker.

"Mr. Walker!" she called. "Detectives Benson and Stabler. We'd like to have a word with you." Lucas didn't move toward or away from Olivia. "Mr. Walker!" she called again. Before Olivia could call his name again, Walker reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. "Gun!" she yelled turning the 

corner quickly back to Elliot. A gunshot pierced the cool air as Elliot and Olivia climbed over the opposite railing and around the opposite side of the building.

"1013! 1013! Shots fired at police! 1536 East 115th Street!" Elliot reported into his radio as he and Olivia reached the end of the alley. They both immediately pulled their guns out of their holsters and walked slowly around the back of the building. Elliot nodded to the right, which told Olivia to go in that direction. She leaned her back against the brick wall and peered around the corner. With no sign of Walker she walked around the corner, her gun drawn. Suddenly another gunshot filled the air and Olivia turned back around the corner and ran to the front of the building. Her heart stopped as another gunshot sounded. She stopped dead in her tracks when she found Walker standing only feet away from Elliot, who was laying on the side walk, almost motionless. Blood drenched his shoulder, and his abdomen, and seeped through his white shirt.

"Police!" Olivia shouted. "Drop your weapon!" Walker raised his gun to Olivia quickly but was stopped as Olivia fired two shots, both hitting Walker, who fell to the ground quickly. She put her gun in her holster quickly as she ran to Elliot. "SVU Portable to Central!" she yelled into the radio. "I need a bus rushed to 1536 East 115th Street. Officer down!" She dropped her radio on the pavement as she fell down to the ground in front of Elliot. "Elliot. Elliot, you're okay. Stay with me," she said taking off her jacket and pressing it onto the wound on his abdomen to try and slow the bleeding. Elliot's eyes glazed over as Olivia rested his head on her thighs. "C'mon Elliot, you're okay. Stay with me." Tears filled her eyes as Elliot lay unconscious in her lap.

Olivia paced back and forth in the waiting room. She glanced down at Kathy and the kids who were sitting in the chairs against the wall. Members of the unit filled the room, which stood sad and silent as they awaited word from the doctors. Cragen walked up to Olivia and grabbed her shoulder lightly, getting her to stop pacing. She wiped the tear from her cheek as she looked up at her captain.

"He's going to be okay," he said softly. She clenched her jaw as her eyes watered a little more. Seconds later the doors of the waiting room opened and IAB Agent Tucker and the Chief of Detectives walked into the squad room, catching the attention of the entire squad.

"Get the hell out of here," Olivia said forcefully, pulling away from her captain.

"Sorry Detective but an innocent man is dead because of the two bullets that were lodged in his chest. I need your statement," Tucker said with a slight smirk.

"He was not an innocent man, and he pulled his gun on us," she said stepping forward.

"Even so, his son is now in the custody of his grandparents, and eye witnesses claim that you shot him without any threat on your life," Tucker said.

"My partner is in surgery, fighting for his life because of what that 'innocent man' did to him," Olivia said, as a small tear clung to her eyelashes.

"That may be the case detective but I still need your statement," Tucker told her.

"Go to hell," she said turning around to walk back to the center of the waiting room.

"Failure to comply with procedure will result in immediate suspension until a statement is taken and determined truthful," Tucker said loudly across the waiting room. Olivia leaned against the back wall and stared at Tucker. After a few moments of silence Tucker stepped forward. "Captain Cragen. 

Will you please remove Detective Benson's badge and gun from her possession as she is on immediate suspension," Tucker told Cragen. Cragen closed his eyes lightly before turning to Olivia. She stood up straight and took her gun off of her holster, and badge off of her belt and handed them both to her Captain. She felt her eyes water more as she walked past her captain and out of the waiting room. Cragen handed the gun and badge to Tucker, putting them in his hands hard.

"Get out," he said forcefully. Tucker smirked lightly before turning and walking out of the waiting room. Seconds after Tucker left, John got up from his seat and walked out of the waiting room in search of Olivia. He walked down the hall and turned the corner to find Olivia leaning against the wall, her hand to her mouth. Tears rolled down her cheeks, as she turned to see John walking down the hall. She stood straight as John got closer to her.

"Olivia," he said softly as he rubbed her shoulder. She wiped her eyes before John pulled her into a hug. Ten minutes later Olivia and John rejoined the group in the waiting room. She sat in a chair, silent for the next two hours, anxiously and nervously waiting for news of Elliot's condition. The double doors opened, and the doctor walked into the waiting room. Olivia looked up as Kathy stood and walked over to the doctor.

"Are you Detective Stabler's family?" the doctor asked.

"Yes," Kathy answered softly.

"Is my dad going to be okay?" Kathleen asked quickly. Olivia stood slowly as did Cragen.

"Uh, your father sustained some serious injuries. One of the bullets lodged in his liver and the other pierced a major artery in his shoulder. Now when we brought him in he was already bleeding internally, so we did some blood transfusions and surgically repaired the wound in his liver. Now he's stable for now, but we are going to need to monitor his condition closely for the next 48 hours," the doctor explained. Olivia smiled lightly as her eyes watered and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Is he going to recover?" Kathy asked, her eyes sad and sullen.

"The next 48 hours are crucial. If he can get through them without any major complications then recovery looks very good," the doctor said with a soft smile. "He just came out of surgery so he's going to be extremely groggy from the anesthesia, but you can see him."

"Thank you so much doctor," Kathy said, as a tear rolled down her cheek. She turned and hugged Maureen, Kathleen, Elizabeth and Dickie as they cried softly with their mother. Kathy glanced up at Olivia who was smiling at Elliot's family celebrating the good news. Kathy released her children before walking over to Olivia. She glanced down at the floor quickly before extending her arms and pulling Olivia into a hug.

"You should come to see him," Kathy said as they parted.

"No, you go. Take the kids," Olivia said rubbing Kathy's shoulder. "I'm just glad he's okay."

"You're sure?"

"Of course. I can wait out here. Go see your husband Kathy," Olivia said nodding toward the doors. Kathy smiled lightly before walking back to the kids and out of the waiting room. Olivia smiled as 

Cragen walked over to her slowly. She felt Cragen's hand rub her back lightly as the doors of the waiting room shook closed.

Olivia walked into Mark's apartment about an hour later. Elliot had fallen asleep after talking a little to Kathy and the kids and Olivia decided to go home and try to get some rest herself before heading back to the hospital in the morning. Mark walked out of the kitchen as Olivia closed the door behind her.

"Hi," she said tiredly before setting her bag down by the door. She hung up her jacket before walking into the apartment. Mark walked toward her slowly. Her eyes were red and tired. He kissed her lightly.

"How's Elliot?" he asked, concern and comfort in his voice.

"Uh, he's stable. The doctors are monitoring him closely for the next 48 hours in the event that his condition changes. I'm going to go and see him tomorrow," she told him as she walked into the bedroom. Olivia had called Mark after talking to John and told him about the incident with Tucker and her suspension. She sat on the edge of the bed and took off her boots.

"What's going on with Tucker?" he asked as he picked up her shoes for her and carried them to the closet.

"Cragen obviously doesn't want me suspended, but until I see Elliot and know for myself that he is going to be okay, I'm not going to sit in a room with Tucker and try to convince him that Walker raised his gun to me," she said before unbuttoning the buttons of her collared shirt. "If I try and give him my statement wondering if Elliot is okay, I could jeopardize my job even more if I'm not completely focused on his questions."

"Good point. What does Cragen think of it all?" he asked as he watched Olivia toss her shirt over to the laundry basket in the corner. She stood up and pulled her jeans down to her ankles as Mark walked across the bedroom and pulled one of his NY Knicks sweatshirts out of the dresser drawer along with a pair of her athletic pants.

"I mean he obviously doesn't want me suspended and hates Tucker and IAB as much as I do if not more but, he knows me and knows why I refused to leave the hospital with Tucker and give him my statement. There's nothing that he can really do about it until I give IAB my statement and they approve it through evidentiary proof." She took the clothes from Mark and slowly put them on. He sat on the edge of the bed as Olivia got dressed.

"Can I get you anything? Maybe a cup of tea?" he said with a soft smile. She nodded lightly before leaning over and bringing her hands to the back of Mark's neck.

"Tea would be amazing," she said quietly before kissing him lightly.

"Okay, C'mon lay down. I will bring it in for you," he said getting up. Olivia pulled down the pillows off of the back of the headboard before grabbing the remote control off of the bedside table. Olivia laid down as Mark left the bedroom. She turned on the television and flipped through a few channels before stopping on the eleven o'clock news.

"Olivia!" Mark called from the kitchen. He walked out of the kitchen and through the apartment toward the bedroom. "What kind of tea do you want?" he asked before walking into the bedroom to find Olivia asleep on top of the covers. He smiled as he lifted her legs and pulled the covers from underneath her and gently setting them over her body. She stirred lightly pulling the covers up to below her chin. Mark leaned down and kissed the side of Olivia's forehead so not to wake her. "I love you," he whispered before walking out of the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.

Olivia walked into the hospital the next morning. "I'm looking for Elliot Stabler's room," she told the nurse behind the desk.

"Just a second," she said as she typed Elliot Stabler into the computer. "534," she answered. "Down the hall on your right."

"Thank you," Olivia said as she walked down the hall. She knocked lightly on the hospital door before slowly turning the knob. She walked into the room slowly before peering around the curtain. Elliot was set upright in the bed, his arm in a sling, his eyes closed. Olivia walked around the bed, quietly and sat in the chair next to the bed, under the window. She sat, and stared at Elliot for twenty minutes as he slept. She felt her eyes begin to water slightly, knowing that he was still not out of the clear, and there was potential for something to happen. Elliot stirred as he moved his head and opened his eyes slowly. Olivia stood up as Elliot blinked, adjusting to the morning sun coming through the window.

"Hey," he said in a soft, raspy tone. "What are you doing here?" Olivia raised her brow walking closer to the bed.

"What do you mean what am I doing here?" she said with a soft smile as her eyes continued to water slightly. "My partner was shot twice and I want to make sure that he's okay." Elliot smiled lightly as he looked at the wall In front of his across the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Just tired and groggy," he answered.

"Well I'm going to let you rest. Kathy called me this morning and she and the kids are coming around 10:30," she told him. Elliot nodded. "And I'm sure everyone is going to want to come and see you later today."

"Sounds like a plan," he said with a soft smile. "What the deal with Walker?" Olivia glanced down at the floor.

"About that," she said looking down at the floor. "He's dead. And I am under investigation for his murder by IAB." Elliot's eyes widened as he set his head back against the pillow. "I'm officially suspended until I give Tucker my statement and they compare it to the statements of the witnesses who claim that Walker never raised his gun to me."

"Unbelievable," he muttered. "You didn't give your statement last night?" Olivia shook her head before looking down at the floor.

"I wasn't about to leave and here about your condition over the telephone because I was trying to convince Tucker that I shot Walker in self defense. I'm not going to walk out on my partner," she told him.

"As much as I appreciate what you did," he began, "get the hell out of here and get your damn job back," he added with a smile. Olivia laughed lightly as Elliot shifted in the bed.

"Alright, I'm outta here. Get some rest, and I'll be back later," she said.

"Later," Elliot said. Olivia walked out of the hospital room and back down the hall.


	9. I Didn't Do Anything Wrong

Olivia sat in the interrogation room and waited for Tucker to begin the interview. After a few minutes the door opened and Tucker walked in, carrying a manila folder. She sat up and folded her hands, setting them on the table in front of her.

"You know that you have the right to have your union delegate present," he said setting the folder on the table.

"I don't need him here. I didn't do anything wrong."

"A father of a six year old boy is dead, your bullets in his chest, and you don't think that you did anything wrong," he said leaning on the table.

"He raised his gun to shoot me. What was I supposed to do?" she asked forcefully. "He shot my partner, and after I identified myself as a police officer he turned and raised his gun to me."

"How many times did you pull the trigger?" Tucker asked.

"You already know the answer to that." He raised his brow and clenched his jaw. "Twice," she said with a sigh.

"Witnesses claim that he was shot the second that he turned to face you, and never raised his arm," Tucker said. "Care you explain that?"

"You and I both know that witness statements are unreliable," she said. A knock sounded at the door before it opened. Cragen and the Chief of Detectives stood in the doorway. "Excuse me Agent Tucker, may we have a word with you and Detective Benson."

"We're sort of in the middle of something," he said standing straight.

"Agent Tucker, I think that you are going to want to see this," Cragen said. Tucker rolled his eyes before picking the folder up off of the table and following the two men down the hall and into Cragen's office, Olivia on his heels. Cragen closed the door to his office as the chief turned on the television which stood on a stand by the window.

"What's all this about?" Tucker asked folding his arms.

"Your department investigated Detective Benson's case, and found a couple who witnessed the altercation in front of Walker's building," Cragen told him.

"We've interviewed a number of witnesses already, all with similar stories. What's so special about this couple?" Tucker asked.

"Well, they were kind enough to hand over a cell phone recording that they took of the shooting," the Chief of Detectives said as he pressed play. Everyone watched the TV as the event unfolded, exactly as Olivia had explained. After Cragen paused the video with the remote, the two men turned to Tucker, who grinded his teeth nervously. Olivia smirked by the door as she watched Tucker squirm.

"Well, I hope that you can understand our mistake," he said glancing down at the door. "We were forced to verify the statements of the witnesses that we interviewed."

"That being said, I think that it's time for Detective Benson to get back to work," the chief said. Olivia smiled lightly as she stepped forward. Cragen opened his to drawer and took out Olivia's badge and gun. She reach across the desk, taking them from her captain.

"Thank you Chief," she said nodding to the older man.

"You're welcome. Don," he said looking to Cragen. "Tell Elliot we are thinking of him."

"I will," Cragen said.

"Have a good day," the cief said before he and Tucker walked out of the office. Olivia smiled as the door closed behind them. She placed her gun on her belt along with her badge.

"How's Elliot?" Cragen asked.

"He's doing really well. I went and saw him this morning before my ass chewing," she said adjusting her gun.

"I'm going to head over to the hospital now, with John and Fin," he said taking his jacket off of the back of his chair. Olivia nodded as Cragen walked past her and out of the office. "Oh and welcome back," he called over his shoulder. Olivia smiled as she reached into her jeans pocket and pulled out her cell phone.

Olivia stood in the kitchen and sipped on a glass of wine as she waited for Mark to finish getting ready. She smoothed out the front of her gold and white strapless dress. She walked through the apartment, her gold strapped heels clicking on the hardwood floor. She knocked lightly on the door of the bedroom before walking in.

"Holy hell you're worse than a woman," she said as Mark stood in front of the full length mirror as he buttoned up his white dress shirt. He laughed as Olivia walked past him, still carrying her glass of wine, and into the bathroom to make sure everything was in order. She stood in front of the counter, setting the glass down by the sink. She looked at her reflection, turning her back to the mirror and looking over her shoulder. Her dress was strapless and white which fit her bust and hips snuggly flaring out just slightly above her knee. Large gold and chocolate brown stencil-like flowers on the dress matched her large gold hoop earrings, bracelets and heels. She leaned forward and checked her make-up in the mirror and adjusted her hair slightly which was straightened and flipped out at her shoulders, with some pulled back into a brown clip. She turned off the light of the bathroom and walked back into the bathroom where Mark was tying his champagne colored tie. "You look very handsome," she said with a smile.

"Yeah, well I have to try extra hard considering I am going to be with you most of the night. I want people to know that the best looking guy there is the one marrying the most beautiful woman there," he said. Olivia laughed lightly as Mark stood up and looked at his reflection in the mirror one last time.

"You know, it's not exactly great to be late to our own rehearsal dinner," she said as she followed him out of the bedroom.

"Maybe everyone else was late and we are on time."

"Nice try," she said finishing her wine before setting the glass in the sink and walking toward the front door.

"Oh and by the way, you look beautiful," he said as she walked past him into the hallway.

"Thank you." Thirty minutes later they pulled up to the bar and lounge where the rehearsal dinner was held. Mark pulled the SUV to the curb and turned off the ignition before getting out and helping Olivia out of the car. He took her hand in his as they walked up to the building and opened the door. The bar was filled with the wedding guests and the wedding party, along with Mark's entire family and Olivia's colleagues. The room erupted into applause and noise as Olivia and Mark stood in the doorway. She laughed as they started greeting everyone.

An hour later Olivia stood at the bar next to Mark and Casey, a shot glass in her hand along with the others. Elliot came up behind Olivia and reached over her shoulder, raising his shot glass in the air.

"I need to make an announcement!" he shouted over the various conversations going on in the bar. Everyone gradually quieted down and looked over to Elliot. "I want to say congratulations to the happy couple, and wish them all of the happiness and joy in the world. Good luck Mark and Olivia," he said loudly. Everyone raised their glasses and Olivia and Mark raised theirs to meets Elliot's before taking the shot. The room cheered and applause as they put their glasses back on the bar. Mark turned around and shook Elliot's hand.

"Thanks man," Mark said.

"Take care of my partner. And don't do anything wrong or else she will hurt you," he said laughing. Olivia laughed as Elliot released Mark's hand and turned to Olivia.

"Thanks El," she said rubbing the side of his bicep.

"Congratulations Liv," he said with a smile. After a few seconds of silence Elliot stepped forward slightly. "Come here." He pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. She laughed lightly as she hugged Elliot.

Olivia walked around the room as the guests ate their dinner, saying hello and talking to them. She walked over to where Mark's father was sitting, talking to another man, both appearing to be finished with their meal. "Olivia!" he exclaimed standing up as Olivia walked around the table.

"Eric," she said smiling as he kissed her on the cheek lightly. "Tonight is absolutely incredible. Thank you so much for arranging all of this."

"Oh, please. I love my son, and I love that you love my son, therefore I love you," he said with a light laugh. Olivia smiled as she took a sip of her glass of white wine. "Olivia, I don't think that you have ever met my brother, Charlie," Eric said motioning to the man sitting at the table. He had a tanned complexion, strong facial features like his brother, and dark brown almost black hair with streaks of gray.

"Oh it's nice to finally meet you. Mark has told me so much about you ," she said shaking his hand as he stood up.

"Wonderful to meet you. Eric tells me that you are a detective," he said releasing her hand.

"Yep. Uh just about ten and a half years now," she said nodding.

"Amazing. Congratulations on the wedding and everything. From what I can tell Mark is a very lucky man."

"Well he has made me extremely happy and has introduced me to his amazing family," she said motioning to Eric.

"Good answer," Eric exclaimed wrapping his arm around Olivia's shoulders. They all laughed as Olivia continued to talk to the men.

Mark stood at the bar, sipping his drink as he watched Olivia talk to his father and Charlie. He smiled as he watched his father wrap his arms around Olivia's shoulders. The bar was pretty much empty being that everyone was eating dinner.

"Can I get a beer please?" Mark heard behind him. David was standing behind him, leaning over the bar after just ordering his beer.

"What are you doing?" Mark asked laughing.

"What are talking about?" David asked, confused.

"Every single time that I have talked to you tonight you've had a beer in your hand? Ever think about taking a break."

"Why should I? My little bro is getting married tomorrow and I get to witness the spectacular event," he answered as he took the glass of beer off of the bar. "Plus, dad's picking up the bar tab so who cares. Tonight's all about a celebration!" He held up his glass before taking a drink. Mark laughed as he took a sip of his own drink. "But in all serious man, you nervous?"

"Na," Mark said shaking his head. "I'm ready. I want her to be my wife."

"Well, you know the whole family loves her, so she passed that test." Mark nodded before taking another sip of his drink. Three hours later people were mingling in the bar while others were still seated at the table, conversations going on in both places. Mark walked from the crowd and over to Olivia. She smiled as he took her hand in his before kissing her lightly.

"I love you," he said softly after they parted.

"Love you too," she replied with a smile.

"The guys were talking about leaving for the hotel shortly so I didn't know if you wanted to leave as a whole wedding party or if it didn't matter."

"Uh, I think that it may look more organized if we left as a wedding party," she said. "So you are all taking the SUV to the hotel and Anthony is driving." Mark nodded. "Is he okay to drive?"

"Oh yeah. I think he had like two beers," he said.

"Okay. We can call the limo driver like twenty minutes before we want to leave and he can come by and take us. You have everything you need? The tuxedos? Shoes? Everything?" she asked.

"Everything is in the trunk of the car," Mark replied.

"Okay," Olivia said with a smile. Casey walked past Mark and Olivia towards the bar, catching the attention of the couple. "Casey!" Olivia called.

"What's up?" she asked turning around quickly.

"We were thinking about the entire wedding party leaving at once, sort of like a grand exit sort of thing. Do you want to spread the word to the rest of them for me?" Olivia asked.

"Sure. I'll call the limo driver and have him here in like half an hour, forty five minutes," Casey said. Both Mark and Olivia nodded.

"Sounds good, thanks Case."

"No problem. Great party by the way," she said smiling before heading back toward the bar.

"I want to talk to you once last time as your fiancé," he said as he took her hand and pulled her to the back of the resteraunt. Olivia smiled as they walked through the resteraunt and out the sliding back door leading to a filled parking lot, with trees and flowers lining the rows of cars. "As unromantic as this is, it's quiet which is what I want." She smiled as she stepped up onto the curb and stood under the tall tree, flowers surrounding her.

"In less than 24 hours we'll be married," she said smiling. "You sure that you are ready?"

"I have waited my entire life to marry the woman of my dreams. And she is standing under a tree with me, in the back of a restaurant, looking absolutely stunning. I am absolutely ready to marry you and call you my wife." Olivia smiled before leaning in an kissing him.

"The next time that I see you, you'll be standing at the altar, waiting for me," she said softly. Mark smiled before leaning in and kissing her lightly.

Thirty minutes later Mark and Olivia were back in the bar, surrounded by their wedding party and guests. Eric walked behind the bar and stepped up onto a crate in an attempt to get the guests' attention. "Excuse me! Can I have everyone's attention?" he shouted. The crowd quieted as eyes landed on Eric. "I want to thank everyone for coming tonight and celebrating the wonderful union between my son, Mark, and his beautiful bride-to-be Olivia. For the last toast of the night before they run out of here with the wedding party, if everyone could raise their glasses," he said loudly. The room obliged as Mark wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist as she raised her wine glass in the air, and he his beer. "I wish you two nothing but the best in life and love. Be good to each other and love each other through all of life's hardships. I love you both very much. Congratulations. To Mark and Olivia."

"To Mark and Olivia," some of the people in the room repeated before taking a sip of their drinks. Mark and Olivia walked to the end of the bar and both hugged Eric before saying goodbye to the rest of their guests. After saying their goodbyes Mark and Olivia walked out of the bar and into the parking lot where a white limo was waiting, the driver standing by the back door. Everyone stood in the parking lot and began to hug and say goodbye to each other. Olivia hugged Anthony, David, John and Greg goodbye before wrapping her arms around Mark's neck. She hugged him tightly as she felt his arms around her back.

"I love you," he whispered in her ear.

"I love you too," she whispered back. She smiled as they parted. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'll be waiting," he said. He kissed her cheek lightly before Olivia turned to walk toward the limo where her bridesmaids were waiting. "Take care of her!" he called to them.

"We will," Casey called back laughing lightly before climbing into the limo, followed by Megan, Amber and Shannon. Olivia waved to Mark, before climbing into the limo.


	10. Thank You

Olivia stood in front of the full length mirror in the hotel room. She adjusted her veil which hung from underneath her loosely curled bun and white flower. Her wedding dress was a crisp white and strapless gown with embellishment on the bust. It hugged her waist and thighs tightly flaring out slightly around the middle of her thighs, falling to the floor and into a rather small train behind her. There was a lightly knock at the door as Casey slowly peered through the opening.

"Hey," she said softly, walking further into the room. "You look amazing."

"Thanks," Olivia said turning around. Casey was in her blue bridesmaid dress which fell to just above her knees and fit tightly around her waist and bust with a halter top.

"We could probably head to the garden now just to be safe, in case there is traffic of something," Casey said.

"Alright. Let's do this thing," she said with a smile as she walked out of the hotel room.

Olivia stood behind the stone wall a few yards away from the aisle. All of the bridesmaids and flower girls were lined up in order and began walking around the corner as the music sounded over the speakers. She looked over as Cragen walked across the grass toward her in his full uniform attire of badges, pins and ribbons. She smiled as he approached her, but stepped forward as Amber turned the corner of the wall toward the aisle.

"Hi," Olivia said softly as Cragen stopped next to her.

"You ready to do this?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," she said with a smile.

"I'm ready too, thanks for asking," Casey said softly with a smile as she looked over her shoulder. The three of them laughed as Casey turned the corner of the wall and down the aisle.

"If I haven't told you yet, thank you for allowing me to do this," he said looking at her.

"I should be thanking you," she said with a smile.

"Well in either case, I'm happy for you and I know that this is who you have been waiting for," he said. "Now, let's do this." She laughed lightly as the music changed and Cragen held out his elbow. She placed her hand in the crook of Cragen's arm as they turned the corner of the wall and walked slowly toward the ivory aisle in front of them. Olivia smiled as she saw Mark waiting at the end of the aisle, beside the archway. She walked slowly down the aisle and reached the end, standing next to Elliot and Kathy, who were seated in the front row. She looked down at Elliot who winked and smiled. Olivia grinned before looking back up at Mark.

"Good evening folks and welcome to Olivia and Mark's wedding reception," the DJ said as he walked into the middle of the dance floor. Applause filled the room as the DJ took the microphone off of the stand. "It is my wonderful pleasure to welcome the wedding party. First, please join me in welcoming the grandmother of the groom escorted by the father of the groom, Ruth and Eric James." Mark's father and grandmother walked through the doors of the ballroom. Applause filled the room as they made their way toward a table near the front of the room where Mark's grandfather was sitting along with some of Mark other relatives. "Please welcome from the bride's side Captain Donald Cragen," the DJ said as Cragen walked into the room and over to the two tables where Olivia's colleagues and guests were sitting. "And now for the wedding party, please put your hands together for Gregory Myers escorting Megan Daniels. Anthony Friedman escorting Shannon Dryer. John James escorting Amber Thompson. And finally your best man David James and maid of honor Casey Novak." All of the couples walked to a long table at the head of the dance floor. "At last, ladies and gentleman please welcome for the very first time, your guests of honor, Mr. and Mrs. Mark James." Applause filled the room as Mark and Olivia walked into the room and through the round tables that filled the room. Mark led her around the table and to the center of the long table at the back of the dance floor. Applause continued as Eric and Cragen stood up from their seats and walked toward the DJ. "Before we begin tonight we have to very important men who would like to offer some words to the new couple."

The DJ handed the microphone to Eric who walked toward the table and stood partially in front of Olivia ad Mark. "First and foremost I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for coming today and witnessing the wonderful union between these two people behind me. Uh, today is of course a very special day for me, and although I'm not new to the wedding reception speech being that I have done it five times before, it also reminds me and everyone in our family the very important person who is not here this evening. And that person is of course my wife and Mark's mother Rose." Eric's eyes began to water as did Mark's and pretty much the entire wedding party considering that they were all Mark's brothers and sisters with the exception of Casey. "Over a year and a half ago my wife and I were introduced to Olivia who walked through the door of our home and blew us away with her incredible personality and grace and unbelievable love for our son. Although at the time, Olivia and Mark had only been dating for I think six months, the night that they left, Rose walked into our bedroom and told me that Olivia was going to be Mark's wife someday. I know that Rose would have given everything to be here tonight to witness this amazing union, and as joyful as today is, there is also a sense of sadness that comes with it. But tonight, I stand before you two, wishing you all of the love and happiness in the world. Mark, I am so proud to be your father. I absolutely love you with everything that I have and am so happy that you now have this wonderful woman in your life. Be good to her. Love her with all of your heart. And Olivia, I could not ask for better addition to our family. You have given Mark the sparkle in his eye that Rose and I have been waiting for. Thank you for loving my son the way you do and I will forever see you as another one of my what seems like twenty seven daughters," he said as laughter was heard throughout the room. "To the both of you, congratulations, good luck and god bless you." Applause filled the room as Mark leaned over the table and hugged his father. A small tear rolled down his cheek as he embraced his dad. Olivia leaned over the table and kissed Eric's cheek lightly before hugging him.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear before they parted. Eric shook hands with Cragen before handing him the microphone.

"Well, I'm glad that I get to follow that," he began which was followed by light laughter. "Olivia literally walked into my life about ten years ago when she volunteered for our unit in the NYPD. For years I watched Olivia grow and become a detective who I can't even find the words to describe. Her compassion and empathy towards the people that come through our doors everyday is absolutely 

incredible and between her and her partner Elliot, it blows my mind how well this job can be performed two people. I, along with the people that she works with everyday, know that Olivia also has a very rough and tough side that was considerably softened when she met Mark and I feel that along with his visible love and affection for her, has changed her life for the better. I always felt that this job gave me a family after my wife died, and it was an honor today to not only walk Olivia down the aisle and give her away, but stand before you tonight and tell you why this couple behind me deserves all of the joy and happiness in the world. Olivia, you are perhaps the most amazing woman, aside from my wife that I have ever met, and I wish you nothing but love and bliss for the rest of your life which I know can be fulfilled by Mark. You are like the long lost daughter that walked into my life and for the past ten years have absolutely amazed me. To Mark, I thank you for loving her in the way that you do. And I know that you would never do anything to hurt her because if you do, don't forget that she works alongside some very strong cops," he said as laughter was heard. "I hope you two live out all of your dreams and enjoy each other's company and companionship. Congratulations." Olivia smiled as she walked behind the bridesmaids and groomsmen's chairs and around the end of the table. Her eyes began to water as she walked toward Cragen.

"Congratulations," he said softly before kissing her cheek lightly and hugging her.

"Thank you so much," she said softly in his ear. She smiled as they parted before the DJ stepped back onto the dance floor.

"At this time would Mark and Olivia please make their way to the middle of the dance floor to take their first dance as husband and wife. Olivia smiled as Mark walked around the table as the music began to "Our Song" by Elton John. Mark took Olivia's hand in his as he led her to the center of the dance floor. He pulled her close to him before kissing her lightly as they flowed to the music.

Olivia walked into the squad room ten days after the wedding to find Cragen, John, Fin and Elliot standing by the LCD board reviewing a case that they had picked up earlier in the morning. She nodded to them with a smile as she walked to her desk and removed her jacket.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as she hung her jacket on the back of her chair. "What'd I miss?" she asked as took the folder from Elliot.

"Traffic?" Fin asked.

"Yeah."

"And the trip?" Elliot asked.

"Great," she said with a light smile as she opened the folder and looked at the file and some of the crime scene photos and information.

Later that night Olivia and Mark laid in bed, the TV on with the volume extremely low. Olivia adjusted her head on his shoulder as she rubbed his stomach gently.

"Hey babe?" he asked softly.

"Yeah."

"Ever think about the future?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked raising her brow.

"I don't know like, where you'll be in five or ten years."

"A little. Why? Where do you see yourself in five years?" she asked.

"Well obviously with you," he said with a smile. "We'd be laying in bed, watching the TV with the volume almost all the way down." Olivia laughed lightly and she moved her head slightly. "We'd be in our Los Angeles house full of modern art and sculpture," he added with a slight laugh. "Our two young kids asleep in their beds while we work on baby number three."

"Wait a minute!" Olivia said quickly as she sat up.

"Honey, its just me day dreaming. Except for the kids part, that's a must," he said with a smile.

"I agree completely about the kids thing but that's not what I'm talking about. Why Los Angeles?" she asked. Mark glanced down quickly before back up to Olivia.

"We need to talk," he said plainly, as his mood changed from happy to serious. Olivia's eyes widened as Mark sat up in the bed and turned off the TV.


	11. Take Care

"Talk about what?" Olivia asked sliding off of the bed.

"About a month ago my boss called me into his office and promoted me to vice president of the entire company. He told me that my stats were good and the employee performance surveys on me were off the charts. He said that with me as the vice president stationed in the branch in Los Angeles and James McManus stationed here, that the company's success could skyrocket," Mark said, sitting up in the bed.

"A month ago," Olivia said, her tone firm and tough. Mark nodded as he got off of the opposite side of the bed.

"I wanted to tell you, but with the wedding only weeks away, I didn't want to stress you out anymore than you already were," he said.

"Mark, this is a huge thing that would change our lives. How could you not tell me?" she asked as she walked out of the room. Mark walked around the bed quickly, following Olivia out of the room.

"I didn't tell him that I would do it. I told him that I needed to talk to you about it and he gave me two months for us to think about it," he said following her into the kitchen.

"Well you seem to have made up your mind with your little day dreaming stunt in there," Olivia said taking a glass out of the cabinet and turning on the sink.

"I thought that it was the best way to tell you," he said standing in the archway.

"The best way to tell me? Mark, you knew about this for a month, and in that time you couldn't find a minute to throw it out there that you want to move to California," she said turning around quickly. "We've been married for a week and a half and you want me to just pick up and leave?"

"I want you to tell me what you want me to do," he said plainly.

"You know what you want to do," she said walking toward him. "Now you just have to decide what you are going to do." She glanced down at the floor. "But whatever you choose, remember that I am your wife, and when I married you I promised to support you in everything that you do," she added, her voice lower and more sympathetic.

Olivia walked into Casey's office four months later. Casey was seated at her desk, filling out a file on their perp who was due in court the next morning. Olivia knocked on the door lightly before walking further into the office.

"Hey," she said softly as Casey looked up.

"Please tell me that you are here to give me news on this guy and not to say goodbye," she said setting down her pen.

"Sorry," Olivia said plainly. Casey lowered her bottom lip, making the ultimate 'sad face' as she stood up from her desk. Olivia smiled lightly as Casey sat on the edge of the desk, and she took a sit in one of the chairs in front of her.

"Are you sure that you want to go? I mean Mark can go and have a great time being that vice president of affairs person and you could stay here," she said with a slight laugh. Olivia smiled as she leaned back in the chair.

"As much as I don't want to leave, I think that the marriage would suffer a little if I stayed. But seriously though, I love Mark and if this is what marriage is all about, then I want to be there for him and support him," Olivia said. Casey nodded.

"I still don't want you to go," she said with a light smile.

"I know, but I'm just an airplane ride away, and you and I both know that I never don't have my phone near me," Olivia said.

"I'm still mad at Mark," she said. Olivia raised her brow with a light smile. "Ok, so not really but right now I do." Olivia laughed lightly. "When do you leave?"

"Our flight is tomorrow morning. The apartment is already furnished, we just have to get there and we will be on our own," Olivia replied.

"Just call me when you get settled in the new place and department and everything," Casey said standing up.

"I promise," Olivia said standing up.

"Well, just take care of yourself and good luck. I know that you can do this," Casey said.

"Thanks," Olivia said before Casey hugged her.

"Alright, I have to go before I really get emotional," Olivia said with a smile as she felt her eyes begin to water.

"Okay," Casey said, her own guys beginning to water. "Call me," she added as Olivia turned away.

"I will," she said looking over her shoulder. "Bye." Olivia smiled softly.

"Bye Olivia," Casey said softly with a smile.

Olivia sat at her bare desk later that afternoon filling out the last of the file on a case she and Elliot had closed the day prior. She glanced at her watch-5:43.

"Alright Liv, I think that we are out of here," Fin said as he put his arms through the sleeves of his leather jacket. Olivia looked up as John turned off the monitor of his computer and took his jacket off of the back of his chair.

"Okay," she said in a sad tone. She stood up and walked over to their desks. "I don't want to say goodbye. What am I going to do in this unit without you two?"

"Well you aren't going to learn about all of the conspiracies of the US government," Fin said looking over to John who just shook his head. Olivia laughed lightly. "But seriously though Liv, we'll miss you."

"Yeah, right back at you," she said with a smile.

"You know even with our disagreements over some things, especially with Ken, you are a great cop and an even better person," Fin said.

"Thanks Fin," she said with a smile.

"And you call me if any of these LA detectives give you a hard time. I'm on the next flight out to kick some Hollywood ass." Olivia laughed as Fin walked toward her. "Good luck, Liv."

"Thanks," she said as Fin rubbed the side of her shoulder. She smiled as Fin nodded to John before walking out of the squad room. Olivia turned to John who was bent over his desk turning off his desk lamp.

"You know when I left Homicide, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to say goodbye to my colleagues," he said standing straight. Olivia raised her brow, confused as to where John was going with the conversation. "But that was only because they all saw me as the skinny ass detective who should have retired ten years before I started." Olivia smiled lightly.

"What am I going to do without this?" she said motioning to John. "I knew that regardless of the case that I am working I could always count on you to lighten the mood a little."

"I do what I can," he said with a smirk. Olivia laughed lightly. "Well out off all of the women that I have known in my life, you get the award of the longest relationship, so this is like divorce number five for me." Olivia smiled softly as John walked toward her.

"Ten years. Never in my life did I think that it would come to this," she said. John smiled lightly. "But in all seriousness thank you for making the past ten years what they have been. You are an extremely unique and intelligent person and I am so happy that I was able to work with you for as long as I have." John smiled as he leaned in and hugged Olivia.

"Take care of yourself," he said softly.

"I will, you too," she replied, her eyes beginning to water.

"And it's not good bye, it's see you later," he said with a smile as they parted. Olivia laughed lightly.

"Okay. I'll see you later, John." He squeezed her bicep lightly before walking out of the squad room. Olivia wiped the tear that rolled down her cheek before walking back to her desk and signing the report before walking toward the captain's office. She knocked lightly on the door before walking in to find Elliot standing in front of Cragen's desk.

"I have the file for the Ramierez case," she said handing Cragen the file.

"You're last file," Cragen said taking the file from her. She nodded as she glanced over to Elliot. "John and Fin?"

"Uh, they just left," she replied. Cragen nodded before turning to Elliot.

"Talk to the principal in the morning and figure out why she was so afraid of going to school," Cragen ordered. Elliot nodded as he closed the case folder in his hands. "Can you give me a minute with Olivia?"

"Sure," Elliot said. "Don't leave without saying goodbye," he added turning to Olivia.

"I'm sure I won't forget you," she said with a smile before he walked out of the office closing the door behind him.

"Getting the goodbyes in order?"

"Yeah. Definitely harder when you've worked with these people for nine, ten years," she said sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"No kidding," he said with a smile. "This has been sort of a whirlwind couple of months for you between this and the wedding. You nervous?"

"Terrified," she said plainly.

"You know in the ten plus years that I have known you, I have never heard that you are terrified of anything."

"Yeah but when have I ever done anything this drastic. I mean the only thing that even comes close is my undercover gig in Oregon and even then I knew that I was eventually coming back. This is different, this isn't fun," she said with a light smile.

"Well you know that giving you away at your wedding was enough for me to last a lifetime but I never thought that I would literally be giving you away. Your passion for this job is your best quality and will only help you in L.A."

"I hope."

"You'll do fine. There's not a doubt in my mind. But I do want to thank you for your commitment to this job and this unit. And personally, you showed me without even trying to, that even with Marge's death I'm not alone." Olivia smiled lightly as her eyes began to water/ "I want to offer you and Mark my wishes, and regardless of whether you are in California or Queens, I'm here and if you need anything you pick up the phone."

"Thank you," Olivia said as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I mean if you told me ten years ago that I would be where I am today I would have laughed in your face. I never would have been able to make it this far without everything that you have taught and shown me and I will take those things with me wherever I end up." Cragen stood up slowly and walked around his desk. Olivia smiled as she wrapped her arms around Cragen's shoulders. "Thank you for everything."

"Just take care of yourself," he said softly before releasing her.

"John told me not to say good bye, but said see you later," she said with a smile.

"Alright, then I guess I will see you later," Cragen said with a light smile.

"Yeah," she said softly before turning and walking toward the door. "See ya," she added as she turned toward him. She smiled as she turned the knob and opened the door. She walked toward her desk where Elliot was leaning on the edge.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was just hard-saying goodbye to him," she said as she leaned against the desk, their shoulders just gracing each others. "When is the new detective coming?"

"Wednesday. He's from Brooklyn SVU, been there two years," he said plainly looking down at the floor.

"Show him the ropes Elliot. The same way you did me," she said softly. "He doesn't know it yet but he just won the partner lottery." Elliot smiled slightly but still looked down at the floor.

"You were a natural, I didn't have to show you a thing," he said finally looking up. "But what I am still trying to figure out is how I'm supposed to conduct an interview or interrogation without my partner standing on the other side of the room making sure I don't throw the guy through the window."

"The same way you did ten years ago," she said plainly. "Elliot you have made me who I am today. You've made me the detective, and the wife, and the person that now knows how strong she really is. That's not natural, that's luck. That's the luck I have for having a partner who supported me in everything that I did for this job and for myself." He smiled lightly as a silence fell over them. Elliot reached his hand in front of Olivia, in it-a white envelope.

"Open this when you are on the plane to L.A.," he said plainly as she took the envelope from him.

"How do you know that I won't open it when I walk out of here?" she asked with a smile.

"Because I know you and because I have already called Mark to tell him that you aren't allowed," he told her.

"Are you serious?" she said with a smile. He shook his head laughing lightly before standing up and facing Olivia.

"So you going to say good bye or what?" he asked with a smile as he held out his arms. Olivia smiled as she stood straight and hugged Elliot. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she felt his hands on her back. "Good luck and thanks," he whispered in her ear.

"You too," she said before they separated. A silence filled the air again as she and Elliot smiled at one another. "Okay?"

"Okay," he said nodding. "Good bye Olivia."

"Bye Elliot," she said softly before turning and walking out of the squad room, tears continuing to roll down her cheeks.


	12. The Greatest Gift in the World

Olivia slid her makeup bag into her purse before walking through the bedroom and out into the living room. Mark walked out of the kitchen to find Olivia standing in the middle of the living room.

"You get everything out of the bathroom?" he asked.

"Yep," she said nodding. "You ready?" Mark nodded as he walked toward her. He kissed her cheek lightly before taking her hand in his.

"Let's head out," he said softly. Olivia smiled as she followed Mark out of the apartment. They walked through the airport an hour and a half later, Olivia's pointed toe heels clicking on the tiled floor. "Nervous?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said looking over to him. "But it'll get better once we finally get there." She smiled as Mark squeezed her hand tighter.

They sat next to each other on the plane, silence between them. Mark looked over to Olivia who was looking out of the window of the plane, her chin resting on her hand. He reached over and rubbed her thigh lightly causing her to look over. She covered his hand with hers as he leaned in and kissed her temple lightly.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," she said with a smile.

Two hours after their plane landed, Mark and Olivia stepped out of the cab in front of their apartment building. The building was tall, and stood out among the stops and other small buildings surrounding it and across the street. Mark took Olivia's hand in his as he led her into the building. "I'm starting to get nervous about what the apartment is going to look like."

"I'm sure that it's going to look fine," she said with a smile as they stepped into the elevator. The doors opened on the fifth floor to a carpeted hallway with ivory walls. "Okay we are looking for 534," he said taking the key out of his pocket.

"This way," Olivia said quickly stepping off of the elevator and turning to the right. Mark laughed as he followed her down the hall.

"Right behind you detective," he said with a light laugh. Olivia stopped at the door, and waited for Mark who quickly arrived. "You ready?"

"Go for it," she said as he put the key in the slot and turned the knob. He pushed open the door, revealing the living room. He stepped in and turned on the light by the door as Olivia followed him into the apartment. The hardwood floors shined under the ceiling lights, which shone on the crisp white walls. Mark's chocolate brown couch and ivory colored arm chair sat in the middle of the room around his glass coffee table. Maroon red sheer draped hung over the large windows which framed the French doors leading to the balcony. Large plants were set in the room, and framed the two tall bookcases on either side of the fireplace, filled with picture frames, candles and books.

"Wow, this looks amazing," Olivia said walking further into the apartment. "I thought that there were going to be boxes everywhere. I didn't know they were going to set everything up for us." Mark walked into the kitchen as Olivia made her way to the bedroom. After 

unpacking the clothes in the boxes in the bedroom, and hanging them in the closets and in the dresser drawers.

"I think that I am going to jump in the shower really quick," Mark said as he folded up an empty box and set it in the corner of the bedroom.

"Okay," Olivia said with a smile before kissing him lightly. After a few minutes Olivia heard the water running. She placed the last of her t-shirts in the drawer before walking across the bedroom and opening her oversized brown purse and pulling out a single white envelope. She walked out of the bedroom and down the hall towards the French doors of the balcony. She pushed open the doors as she tore open the seal. She walked over to the railing and leaned her lower back against it as she pulled the paper out of the envelope. She flipped open the paper revealing Elliot's very distinctive writing.

_Olivia- If you followed my directions you are sitting on the airplane on your way to California. But I have a feeling that you didn't follow the directions and you are actually already in your apartment and unpacked. _

Olivia laughed lightly as she tucked her hair behind her ears.

_I want to wish you and Mark the absolute best in your new lives, and I know that you will reach new highs in your new unit. It is hard to put into words how much our partnership meant to the city, unit and me. For over ten years I watched as you took women who felt helpless and weak and made them strong again physically, mentally and emotionally. I admire your courage and strength that you exhibit with every case we investigate and every victim that we meet. If you notice, although that you are in California, I am continuing to use 'we'. Regardless of who sits in your desk and stands in an interrogation, they will never be my 'partner.' Through the hardest years of my life, I sat across from someone who supported and followed my actions, and jeopardized her own future and success for me. I CAN put into words what you have done for me as a partner, but I CANNOT put into words what you have done for me as a friend. You did perhaps that most incredible thing anyone could do for me by saving not only my wife's life, but the life of my son. You have given me the greatest gift in the world, and for that thank you isn't enough. _

_Finally I want to thank you for our relationship and all that it has given me. In the past ten years you have given me the desire and determination to be a better detective, husband, father and person. I don't know where I would be today without you. In my wildest dreams I never thought that our partnership would have ended like this, however I am nothing but happy for you. Although the partnership between us is over, the friendship is not, and I am thrilled that you have found your partner for life in Mark. Good luck. Take care. And give your partner in LA everything that you have given me. If he is lucky, he will walk away everyday as the luckiest detective in the world-next to me._

_Sincerely. Elliot._

Olivia wiped the small tear that rolled down her cheek as she turned around the faced the street below her. The shops across the road were lit under the eleven o'clock sky as cars lined the lanes of the street. Olivia stared at the letter again as her eyes continued to water, and tears fell onto the railing under her. "What am I doing?" she whispered to herself as she wiped away the tears on her cheeks before walking back into the apartment.

Hours later Mark walked into the bedroom to find Olivia asleep under the covers. He removed her purse and book from beside her on the bed and set them on the floor next to the window. As he carried her belongings across the room, a plain white envelope fell out of the pages of her book and onto the floor at his feet. After setting the things on the floor he picked up the envelope and lifted the flap. He slowly removed the piece of paper, careful not to wake Olivia, and unfolded it revealing Elliot's letter. He read it as he continued to glance over to Olivia to be sure she hadn't woken. After reading the letter he slowly placed it back in the envelope and slid it between the pages of Olivia's book. He walked across the room to the opposite side of the bed and pulled back the covers before climbing in. He laid his head back on the pillow and pulled the blankets over his bare chest.

"What in the hell am I doing?" he whispered to himself as he stared at the ceiling.

Olivia woke up the next morning to find herself alone in bed. She glanced at the clock on the bedside table-9:53. She rubbed her eyes before pulling back the covers and climbing out of bed. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she walked down the hall and into the kitchen where a notepad lay on the counter.

_Headed out for my first day but didn't want to wake you. Call me when you wake up. See you tonight. Love you. Mark xoxo._

Olivia smiled as she walked through the kitchen and took the phone off of its station.


	13. What Am I Doing?

Mark walked through the front door around six that night to find Olivia sitting on the couch, reading her book. She looked up and smiled as he closed the door behind him.

"Hey babe," she said closing her book and putting it on the table. "How was the first day?" He smiled as he walked toward her.

"Great. It's like walking into my old office, just with different people there. But everyone is really nice and showed me around the building and everything. It was good," he said as he bent down and kissed her lightly. "What did you do today sleepyhead?" he asked falling onto the couch. Olivia laughed lightly as she stood up.

"Well I filled our kitchen with food from the store down the street. And might I just say wait until you see this grocery store. It's huge and everything is so much more expensive than New York."

"Great," he said. "Did you eat yet?"

"No, I didn't know what you wanted to do for dinner."

"Why don't we go out and explore our surroundings a little," he suggested.

"Okay," Olivia said with a smile. "I'll run and change real quick." She walked across the apartment and into the bedroom. Olivia pulled off her white tank and opened the doors to their closet.

"When do you start tomorrow?" Mark called from the living room.

"Uh, I have to be there at 8 to meet with the captain and then my new partner," she called back as she pulled a black strapless shirt out of the closet.

"You nervous at all?" he called.

"Yeah. It's going to be really different going from a unit where I had known everyone for ten years to completely new people," she replied as she pulled the tight fitting shirt over her head. She adjusted the cuffs on her denim capris before slipping on her high black wedges and grabbing a white, fitting jacket from the side of the closet and putting her arms through the sleeves. She walked into the bathroom and brushed her hair before spraying it lightly with hairspray. "Ready," she said walking into the living room.

"That was fast?" he said standing up. "You look nice."

"Thanks," she said smiling. She grabbed her purse off of the table before following Mark to the door. Five minutes later Olivia said next to Mark in his SUV that a dealer had driven over a week prior as they pulled out of the parking garage of the apartment building.

Olivia stood in front of the bathroom mirror the next morning adjusting her hair. She had straightened it and flipped the ends out lightly as they fell just at her shoulders. She unbuttoned the top few buttons of her black collared shirt revealing her black laced camisole. Her dark wash jeans fit her thighs tightly and fell to the ground over her black closed toe wedges. She grabbed her oversized black purse off of the bed where Mark was laying, just being woken up by his alarm. She kissed his cheek lightly before swinging her bag over her shoulder.

"Bye. Love you," she said softly before turning to walk out of the room.

"Have a good day," he said groggily. She laughed as she walked through the apartment and out the door. An hour later Olivia stepped out of the elevator and down the hall of the LAPD building. She turned a corner to find herself standing in front of full glass doors with the words 'SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT' printed in black in the center. She walked through the doors and into the busy squad room, which was set up much like the one in New York, except the walls were painted a crisp white and all of the desks were black and relatively neat compared to the desks in Manhattan. She walked up to a man about her age if not a little older, who was seated at the first desk filling out some paperwork.

"Excuse me," Olivia said catching the man's attention. "I'm looking for Seargent Anderson's office?"

"You must be the detective from New York," he said leaning back in his chair.

"How can you tell?" she asked nervously.

"You're wearing black and dark blue," he said with a smile. Olivia smiled lightly before glancing down at the floor. "Jim Bryant," he said extending his hand as he stood up.

"Olivia James, nice to meet you," she said shaking his hand.

"Office is that room back in the corner," he said pointing to the glass door in the corner surrounded by white walls.

"Thanks," she said adjusting her bag and walking across the squad room. She knocked on the door lightly and upon hearing a reply opened the door slowly.

"Sergeant Anderson," she said stepping into the office.

"Guilty," he said as he twirled his pen through his fingers. "Who's asking?" he added.

"I'm Olivia James, we spoke a few days ago on the phone," she said as she stood nervously in the doorway.

"I knew who you were the second that you walked into the squad room and talked to Jim," he said nodding toward the squad room. "And I bet he told you how I could tell."

"Because of how I am dressed?" she asked with a smile. Anderson nodded as he stood up from his desk. Olivia laughed lightly as she walked further into the office after closing the door behind her. She shook his hand before taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Your office sent me your file about a month ago," he said turning around and grabbing a folder off of the shelf behind him before sitting down behind his desk. "And I have to say that I was extremely impressed."

"Thank you," she said as she set her bag down on the floor.

"Ten years in the same unit with the same partner. Second grade detective behind your partner who was first grade," he said reading from the file. "Did you come into the unit at second grade?"

"No. I came in at third but about two years after I started I was promoted to second grade when my partner was bumped up to first," she answered. Anderson nodded.

"You had a 96 closing rate on cases in the past six years," he read from his file. Silence filled the room as he scanned over the file again. He flipped over the page and read the other information on it. "Alright," he said closing the file and setting it in front of him. "You know what you are doing as far as the logistics of the job obviously. We are a highly accredited unit within the department much like yours in New York so not issue there." He opened the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a gun and holster and badge, and set it in front of him. "Identical gun that you used in New York. Badge and holster." He slid them across the surface of the desk. "ID and registration of the weapon," he added sliding a number of forms and her ID across the desk. "You just need to read over and sign them." Olivia flipped through the pages of forms before signing at the bottom of the pages. Anderson got up from his desk and walked over to the door. "Bryant!" he called across the squad room. Seconds later Jim walked into the office as Olivia slid the papers across the desk. "Give Detective James the grand tour of the palace."

"Ok," Jim said with a light laugh at Anderson's sarcasm.

"And welcome to Los Angeles," Anderson said as Olivia stood up.

"Thanks," she said with a smile before following Detective Bryant out of the office.

"Olivia stood outside the building in the warm 3:00 air later that day. She took out her phone and dialed the number before leaning against the cement wall.

"Stabler," Elliot said into the receiver as he walked out of Warner's office.

"Hey it's me," she said, smiling.

"Well if it isn't Detective Los Angeles," he said in a sarcastic tone. "What's going on? How's the new job?"

"It's alright. Sergeant Anderson liked our work for the past ten years by the way," she told him.

"Well, I only worked that hard because I figured that you would leave and go to Los Angeles." Olivia laughed. "How's the new partner?"

"Jim Bryant. He's 47, been in the unit six years after transferring from LA Homicide," she told him. "But other than that, he's a decent guy with experience and personality." A moment of silence filled the conversation as Olivia glanced down at the pavement below her. "Regardless of who he is, it's not you sitting across from me so, he's just alright."

"Well it's good to know that I haven't been replaced," Elliot said as he walked to the squad car. "How's the apartment and Mark and everything?"

"You remember the size of my apartment in Manhatten?"

"Yeah."

"Our balcony is bigger than my kitchen was," she said with a light laugh.

"Welcome to the LA lifestyle."

"Tell me about it. When's the rookie coming?" she asked.

"Tomorrow," Elliot said plainly as he turned on the ignition to the car.

"Well call me, tell me how it's going?" she said standing straight.

"Expect a call early," he said sarcastically. Olivia laughed.

"Well I have to get back but I'll talk to you tomorrow," she said.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later. Tell Mark I said hi"

"I will. And El?"

"Yeah," he said putting the car in reverse.

"Thanks for the letter," she said plainly.

"You're welcome. Get back to work," he said with a light laugh.

"Okay. Later," she said laughing.

"Bye." Olivia closed her phone before walking back into the building and into the squad room. Elliot pulled the car out of the parking space and onto the main road. He came to a red light before rubbing his temple.

"What am I doing?" he said to himself before pressing on the gas and turning the corner.


	14. This Is Not My Dream

Olivia and Jim Bryant walked into the squad room later that day, returning from a crime scene. As Olivia and Bryant made their way to their desks two other detective walked over from the windows on the side of the room.

"Olivia. Meet Luke Andrews and Chris Wilkins," Jim said as the two detectives walked toward them. Olivia smiled lightly at the two men.

"Nice to meet you guys," she said.

"Are you the one from New York?" Wilkins asked.

"Yep, and apparently my clothes give it away," she said with a smile as she glance over to Jim who was smiling. The two men laughed lightly as they discussed the case that Jim and Olivia had recently picked up.

Olivia sat in the balcony two months later. She sat on the cement ground next to the door, and leaned her back against the wall behind her. She dialed Elliot's phone number and brought the phone to her ear. After a few rings she heard Elliot's voice on the other line.

"Hello," he said.

"Hey," she said with a light smile. "Are you busy?"

"No, I'm on my way home. What are you up to?" he asked.

"Sitting on my balcony," she said with a light laugh. "Mark's in the shower."

"You don't sound too happy. I mean if I had a balcony I would be ecstatic," he said sarcastically. Olivia laughed lightly. "What's wrong?"

"Why do you think that something is wrong?"

"Liv, I was your partner for ten years. What's wrong?" he asked again. Olivia laughed lightly. "How's the job?"

"It's okay. The people are just really different. Like the ADA for the unit decides what cases that she wants to try so that she has a better chance of raising her win loss ratio. So if we want to indict a guy for a rape and we don't have enough evidence for her liking, we're basically S.O.L," she told him.

"What does your C.O. say?" Elliot asked. Mark walked through the apartment, shirtless with sweatpants. He walked toward the kitchen before hearing Olivia's voice on the balcony. He slowly walked through the living room and leaned against the wall near the open doorway.

"Nothing. She's been trying cases for the unit for years. The ADA before her did the same thing. He's only been in command of the unit for seven years so it's all he knows," she explained.

"How's Bryant?"

"He's good, it is still just really different. He's not very aggressive. If we are interrogating someone, he doesn't get very irritated and sometimes I think that gives the perp and advantage. Especially if he rapes or kills out of rage or anger," she said bringing her knees up toward her chest. "It's sometimes hard to get in a rhythm with him." She sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"How does Mark like the Los Angeles life?" Elliot asked as he pulled the car into the driveway of his house.

"He loves it, or at least from what I can tell," she said with a smile. "We went out to dinner the other night with someone that he works with and his wife."

"Do you regret leaving New York?" Silence filled the air as Olivia glanced down at her lap. "Liv?" Elliot said breaking the calm.

"I don't know," she said plainly as silence surrounded her. "I love Mark and I would have gone to Australia for him. He has been working for this promotion for the past ten years and I couldn't be the reason for him not to get it, so I don't regret leaving for that reason."

"But," Elliot said, encouraging her to continue. Olivia paused for a second as she played with a small leaf between her fingers.

"It's not New York. I guess I keep thinking that it's like an undercover gig. I'm in Oregon again with environmentalists and should be back in New York shortly. It's just taking a little longer than I expected for me to realize that I'm here to stay," she said softly, a sense of sadness in her voice.

"Well you're strong, and I'm sure that eventually you'll get into the swing of things. Just remember to call me if you need anything okay?"

"I will, thanks El," she said with a soft smile. Mark felt his stomach drop to his feet as he listened to Olivia. He quietly turned and walked back into the bedroom before laying down in the bed and staring up at the ceiling. "Look, Mark's probably out of the shower so I'm going go and see what's going on with dinner tonight."

"Alright. You'll be fine Liv. If anyone can handle this it's you." Olivia smiled as she stood up. "Talk to you later."

"Bye El," she said before sliding the phone back and walking into the apartment, closing the balcony door behind her. She walked down the hall into the bedroom to find Mark laying motionless on the bed.

"Mark?" she said softly as she turned the corner. "What are you doing?" she asked with a light laugh as she walked towards the master bathroom.

"Just laying here," he said plainly still staring at the ceiling.

"I can see that," she said as she stood in front of the mirror and pulled her hair back into a small bun. She turned off the light before walking out o the bathroom and climbing up onto the bed. She laid down on her stomach near where Mark was laying as she propped herself up on her elbows. "Can I stare at the ceiling aimlessly with you?" she asked sarcastically. He smiled lightly before turning to her. "What's wrong?"

"I want to apologize to you?" he said plainly.

"Apologize for what?" she asked confused. He glanced down before sitting up and sliding off of the bed.

"Olivia, I brought you to Los Angeles because of a job offer, and what I left back in New York wasn't nearly what you left," he said standing at the foot of the bed.

"How many times do I have to tell you this," she said shifting position. "This move has nothing to do with me leaving anything behind. It's about me loving my husband enough to go to the end of the earth for him to follow his dream."

"Olivia this job isn't my dream," he said motioning with his hands. Olivia raised her brow startled by his change in tone. "It's just a promotion that happened to be in L.A. Regardless of the fact that it's here and not in New York, the fact that I got the promotion is enough for me."

"Mark what are you saying?"

"A promotion is just a thing. An event, that may or may not affect an amount of time in someone's life. A dream is something that I will always have, and has thus far come true. I have a beautiful wife who I love, so I can check that one off of my dream list." Olivia smiled lightly.

"So what do you want to do?" Olivia asked. Mark smiled lightly as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Olivia stepped off of the elevator and walked down the hall, her brown heels clicking on the floor. She turned the corner and knocked lightly on the door lightly before turning the knob slowly. She opened the door to find Cragen seated behind his desk. "Olivia," he said looking to his right as she stood in the doorway off of the hallway. She smiled lightly knowing that he was probably stunned to see her. "What are you doing here?" he asked, not really knowing what to say.

"Mark decided to turn down the job in Los Angeles," she said plainly. "I guess he thought he was taking advantage of me by taking me from the job." Cragen smiled as he stood up. "We got back this morning. Mark's back at the house getting some things together."

"The house?" he asked raising his brow. Olivia nodded smiling. "Have you told Elliot that you are back yet?"

"No. I thought that I would go for the element of surprise," she said. "How's everything with Andrews?"

"He's a little inexperienced but he's learning. He could use another mentor though," he said raising his brow. Olivia smiled lightly as she walked through the office and opened the opposite door facing the squad room. Elliot and Andrews were seated at their desks while John and Fin stood against the railing above on the balcony, looking at a folder in Fin's hand. Olivia walked slowly past the filing cabinets. She noticed Andrews look up from his paperwork, and figured that he knew who she was.

"Hey, uh Elliot," he said, pulling Elliot's attention away from his computer screen.

"What?" Elliot asked. Andrews nodded toward Olivia causing Elliot to turn in his chair.

"I don't believe it," Fin said loudly from the balcony as Elliot turned in his chair. Olivia laughed lightly as Elliot's jaw fell and his eyes widened.

"What in the hell?" he said as he stood up slowly.

"Surprise!" Olivia said laughing as she walked toward him.

"What in the world are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm back," she said stopping in front of him. Fin and John walked down the stairs beside the lockers as Andrews watched the exchange of the former partners.

"For a visit?" he asked. Olivia shook her head with a light smile.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Fin exclaimed. Olivia laughed as Elliot pulled her into a hug. Cragen joined the group as Olivia was welcomed by her colleagues.

"You must be Nick Andrews," Olivia said as she walked around her former desk. He nodded as he stood. "Olivia James." She shook his hand as he smiled lightly.

"Nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you," he said.

Two weeks later Olivia walked out of the kitchen and out onto the large deck. The warm June sun shined on the dark wood of the deck which was filled with all of Mark's family and everyone from the unit, including Kathy and the kids, Casey and her boyfriend Chris, and Nick with his fiancé Andrea. Mark and Olivia were hosting a cook out in celebration of their new house and return to New York. Olivia walked across the deck over to Eric, who was standing along the railing watching the younger kids kicking the soccer ball around in the yard. Mark and his brothers were fooling around with the kids in the yard as well.

"It's amazing that they are grown men, but act more like kids now than they did when they were young," he said. Olivia laughed as she sipped her diet Pepsi. "I'm happy that you guys decided to come back."

"Me too," Olivia said smiling. Twenty minutes later Mark jogged up the few stairs of the desk and walked over to Olivia and Eric. He wrapped his arm around Olivia's waist before kissing her temple lightly as Elliot and Kathy walked over.

"Hey, great party guys," Elliot said shaking Mark's hand. "You couldn't have asked for better weather."

"I know," Olivia said smiling.

"So Mark do you have your old job or did you start something new?" Kathy asked.

"My boss actually offered me the position that I had prior however I also work with the VP on various accounts and things like that so I guess I kind of have both jobs now," he answered.

"Could it have worked out any better?" Eric asked with a smile.

"I don't think so," Olivia said smiling as she looked up at Mark. An hour later Mark and Olivia stood at the end of the two long tables that were set on the deck. Everyone was seated with food on their plates in front of them. Mark and Olivia watched the various conversations taking place as their family and friends ate and gossiped.

"If I could have everyone's attention!" Mark said loudly raising his glass in the air. The voices quieted as heads turned to Mark and Olivia. "Olivia and I just want to thank all of you for coming out today and celebrating our new home and the start of our new lives. Since this is the first time that we have all been together since the wedding we also want to thank you for being there for us, and dad and Don for your incredibly kind words," he said looking down to Olivia who was smiling.

"Yeah, uh I just feel so incredible lucky to have all of you and Mark had said that today is a celebration of the start of our new lives but we also wanted to have all of you here for another reason. And that reason is to let everyone know that Eric is adding another grandchild to his clan," she said with a light laugh. "Because I am pregnant." Shouts and screams filled the air as everyone's mouths dropped. Eric who was seated closest to Mark and Olivia stood up and hugged them both, his eyes clearly watering slightly. Olivia smiled as Eric released her and hugged Mark. She walked around the table over to Elliot and Cragen who were standing next to each other.

"Congratulations," Cragen said smiling as he kissed Olivia's cheek lightly before hugging her.

"Thank you," she said smiling as they parted. She turned to Elliot who quickly pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so happy for you," he said softly as he wrapped her arms around her back. Olivia walked back across the deck where Mark was standing. She walked to him quickly before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him. She hugged him tightly as her eyes began to water.

Olivia and Mark walked around the deck after everyone had left. Olivia threw various empty cups and plates into the large garbage bag. Eric walked out of the kitchen and onto the deck. He was staying the night and spending the next day with Eric being that he was able to take off of work.

"Can I help you two with anything?" he asked looking over to Mark who was cleaning off the grill.

"Uh, I think that we are good. I'm just throwing all of this stuff in the garbage,h" Olivia said looking up. "The joys of plastic forks and paper plates," she added with a smile. "Oh and by the way, the rest of that cake in the kitchen is going home with you."

"Like hell it is," he said with a smile as he picked up a couple of cups and plates and tossed them into the bag.

"We'll eat it in like a day if it's left here," Olivia said with a slight laugh.

"Yes, that's the point of cake-for it to be eaten," he said sarcastically. Mark and Olivia laughed as Olivia tied the garbage bag. Eric rolled the plastic table cloths into a ball and followed Olivia through the house.

"I can't believe you kept the pregnancy a secret," he said as they walked out onto the front porch. Olivia tossed the bag over the ledge and into the garbage can beside the house before taking the table cloth from Eric and doing the same.

"Well Mark and I had been planning this cook out for weeks so we thought that it would be a great way for everyone to find out at once," she said leaning against the ledge.

"When did you find out?"

"Uh, a little under two months after we moved to L.A. I took the home pregnancy test after about a month and a half and I went to the doctor like a month ago they confirmed that I was eleven weeks," she said smiling.

"I can't believe it," he said with a soft smile. "I'm just so…oh I can't wait!" he exclaimed. Olivia laughed as he hugged her lightly.


	15. That's Not Okay With Me

A/N: Sorry for the wait. Family vaca...no computerno laptop :( Enjoy. Please review!

Olivia stood in the bedroom a week later and buttoned her dark green collared shirt. It was her first day back at work since returning from Los Angeles. She tucked her shirt into her jeans before smoothing out the front over her stomach which was slightly larger. She walked out of the bathroom and down the stairs to find Mark putting dishes into the dishwasher into the kitchen.

"Alright babe, I'm out of here," she said peering around the archway. He looked up before closing the door of the dishwasher. "I will call you later."

"Okay," he said as he walked toward her. "Have fun," he added with a smirk before kissing her lightly.

Forty five minutes later Olivia walked into the squad room to find her desk bare and vacant. Nick was seated on top of the desk behind Fin's talking to John about something in the file he was holding. Fin and Elliot were standing by the coffee stand, both with cups in their hand.

"Good morning detective," John said loudly from where he was standing. Olivia laughed as she set her bag on the seat of her chair before walking over to the coffee table.

"Detective James," Fin said handing her a Styrofoam cup, a smirk on his face.

"Thanks," she said with a light smile as she took the coffee pot in her hands and poured coffee into her cup. Elliot smiled lightly before walking over to his desk where his desk phone was ringing loudly.

"So LA cops," Fin began leaning against the table, "are they as high maintenance as T.V. makes them?"

"I walked in on my first day in a black shirt and dark jeans, and they immediately knew that I was from New York," Olivia said before taking a sip of her coffee. Fin laughed before walking toward his desk.

"Not to be Johnny Raincloud here," Elliot said after hanging up his phone, "but we got a body in an alley off of Grand. Olivia glanced down at the ground before walking toward her desk and setting her cup on the surface. "Welcome back," he said looking up at her with a smirk. She laughed lightly before following Elliot out of the squad room.

Elliot and Olivia ducked under the crime scene tape wrapped around the parking meters along the street. "Special Victims?" a uniform officer asked walking up to them.

"Olivia James," she said holding up her badge, "and Elliot Stabler, my partner," she added as she motioned to Elliot.

'Victim's name is Matthew Brooks, 27, lives in Queens. ID found in his wallet along with cash and credit cards," the officer said. "ME is on scene examining the body now." Elliot 

and Olivia nodded as they walked toward the alley, which was swarming with CSU technicians and uniformed officers. The caution tape was lined with onlookers and camera crews.

"What's all the hype about?" Elliot asked looking around at the camera crews.

"I don't know," Olivia said as they walked into the alley, "but whatever it is, it's personal if they passed up the cash and major credit cards."

"How many times are you two going to split up and then get back together?" Warner said as they walked toward the body that was covered with a white sheet. Elliot and Olivia laughed lightly. "Welcome back, Liv."

"What do we got?" Elliot asked as he squatted down next to Warner.

Two hours later Elliot and Olivia walked into the squad room to find Cragen talking to Nick, Fin and John by their desks. "One Police Plaza is swarming with cameras and reporters. They want this closed yesterday," Cragen said as Elliot and Olivia walked to their desks.

"The media was at the scene before we were. What's going on?" Elliot asked.

"Your victim, Matthew Brooks, is the son of Queens District Attorney Phillip Brooks," John said. Elliot and Olivia looked at each other, both with rather surprised looks on their faces.

"We have to get moving on this before the cameras start knocking on my door," Cragen told them.

"Victim's name is Matthew Brooks, 27. ETD is between midnight and two this morning," Olivia reported. "Bruises and cuts covered his body and Warner believes all were inflicted before he died."

"His obvious head wound," Elliot added passing around a picture from the crime scene, "is what killed him. Blood was found on the brick wall above where his body was found, and fluids were also present."

"We thinking rough sex gone bad?" John asked.

Two hours later, Elliot and Olivia returned from talking with Matthew's father, as well as his boss at the advertising agency where he worked. They sat at their desks and looked through Matthew's phone records and bank statements trying to find anything that could give them a lead to a motive or suspect. Olivia's desk phone rang catching the attention of both detectives. "Detective James, Special Victims Unit," she said into the receiver. While Olivia was on the phone Cragen came out of his office and over to Elliot.

"Do I have anything to tell One Police Plaza with some definition?" he asked.

"Well I would really like to tell Phillip Brooks why his son is dead. Warner's reports should be in by the end of the day but Liv and I just started with his phone records and bank statements, but nothing suspicious yet," Elliot explained.

"Nick and Fin are in Interview looking through case files from the past ten years," Cragen said.

"That was Warner," Olivia interjected as she placed the phone back on its receiever. "She found fluids on Brooks' body."

"Anyone match in the system?" Elliot asked. "Plenty of women are in Bedford Hills because of someone in his father's office."

"Maybe someone wanted revenge?" Cragen suggested.

"Well if that is the case, then we're not going to be looking in Bedford Hills," Olivia began. "The DNA on the body is from a man." Both Elliot and Cragen glanced at each other before looking back to Olivia.

Two days later Elliot and Olivia walked up the stairs to Lucas Taylor's apartment building. Through looking at Matthew Brooks' phone records, they found that he had made a number of calls during the day for the past month to Taylor. They walked down the hallway and knocked on the door to his apartment. After a few moments the door clicked open and Lucas Taylor stood in the doorway.

"Are you Lucas Taylor?" Elliot asked as he held up his badge.

"This is about Matthew," he said plainly. Elliot and Olivia glanced at each other before following Taylor further into his apartment. "How did you find me?"

"We looked at Matthew's phone records. He made over four calls to you every day between the hours of nine and six," Olivia said.

"You two were an item?" Elliot asked. Taylor nodded before falling onto the couch.

"We did everything to try and keep it a secret from our friends and family, especially his father," he replied.

"Because of his title?" Olivia asked.

"His beliefs. Right before Matt graduated from college, he tried to tell his father that he was gay. But he got nervous and just played the whole 'my friend is gay but hasn't told his parents' routine. His dad told him that he should feel bad for his friend because he didn't have normal, natural feelings for women." Elliot and Olivia glanced at each other before looking back at Lucas. "Do you have any leads?"

"Lucas, were you with Matthew the night he died?" Olivia asked sympathetically.

"He came over after work. We had dinner. He left around ten," Lucas said plainly.

"Did you two have sex?" Olivia asked. Lucas looked around the room before standing up and walking around the detectives.

"What you think just because we're gay, all we do is fuck each other because women aren't appealing to us?" he said angrily.

"Not at all, Lucas listen to me. We found DNA on Matt's body which our medical examiner tested to be a man's, now we have to exclude you as a suspect so the defense doesn't make the claim that you killed him," Olivia explained. Lucas looked down at the floor as silence filled the air. "Were you and Matt intimate the night that he died?" Lucas nodded lightly as he looked up to Elliot and Olivia.

Elliot and Olivia walked into the CSU tech area later that afternoon. "What was so urgent that you couldn't tell us over the phone?" Elliot asked as he walked toward O'Halleron who was standing in front of a large computer screen.

"We lifted prints from the area around where the body was found," he began and compared them to those found when we dusted Matthew Brooks' apartment in the event that he was kidnapped or attacked there."

"And?" Elliot asked raising his brow.

"We got a match to Phillip Brooks, who was printed along with Matthew's mother and older brother. His prints were found at his son's apartment and in the alley." Elliot and Olivia glanced at each other, both with the same reaction on their faces.

"So Phillip finds out that his son is gay, and follows him from Lucas's apartment just to be sure," Olivia began after they were back in the squad room. She and Elliot leaned against their desks as Cragen, John, Fin and Nick surrounded them. "Approaches him near the alley, they get into it and kills him out of rage."

Elliot and Olivia walked up the pathway to the large house of Phillip Brooks. Elliot rang the doorbell before stepping back on the large porch before the door opened slowly revealing Matthew's older brother. "You must be the cops," he said plainly. Elliot and Olivia both nodded.

"May we come in?" Elliot asked. "It's very important that we speak to your father."

"My father has told you everything he knows. You should be out trying to find the son of the bitch who killed my brother, than bothering us," he said angrily before shutting the door loudly. Elliot and Olivia looked at each other before turning around and walking off of the proch.

"We don't have enough or a search warrant or to arrest him," Elliot said as they walked down the stairs. Olivia sighed as they walked along the pathway towards the car. She stopped when she noticed the garbage cans in the front of the house, on the curb near the street. "What?" Elliot asked, confused.

"We don't need a search warrant for garbage right?" she asked walking across the grass towards the cans.

"Genius," he said following her. She opened the lid to one of the garbage cans as Elliot slid gloves onto his hands. He fished through some of the white plastic bags before ripping one open. Olivia watched as he pulled out a blue shirt with blood spatters and spots covering it.

Elliot and Olivia walked into the interrogation room where Phillip Brooks was seated at the table in the center of the room.

"I didn't kill my son," he said quickly.

"Mr. Brooks you understand that you have a right to have your lawyer present," Olivia remind him as she leaned against the two way mirror.

"I don't need an attorney, I am one, and besides I didn't do this," he argued.

"Your prints were found in the alley where your son's body was found, and bloody clothes in your garbage. Not to mention that your son's boyfriend told us that you think homosexuals aren't normal or natural," Olivia said.

"He had to sneak around just because his own father hated the fact that he was gay," Elliot said.

"What I can't understand," Olivia began as she walked to the table, "is how you can kill your own son just because he's gay." She stood in front of the table as Phillip looked down at his hands folded in front of him.

"Do you have children detective?" Phillip asked calmly, looking up at Olivia. Olivia glanced to Elliot before back to Brooks.

"I'm expecting a child in six months," she replied.

"I can promise you that as a parent, especially a mother, you will do anything to protect your child," he said softly and almost sympathetically. Olivia raised her brow, confused by Phillip's statement.

"How is killing your gay son a form of protection because if it is, you have to be the worst parent I have ever seen," she said folding her arms.

"No, you don't get it!" Brooks exclaimed standing up and walking over to the two way mirror. Silence filled the room as Brooks leaned forward, him arms against the ledge. "I wasn't protecting Matthew."

"Who were you protecting?" Elliot asked stepping forward. Phillip turned around to face the detectives slowly.

"Andrew," he said as his eyes began to water lightly. Elliot's eyes widened as he looked over to Olivia, who looked just as surprised as he was. A knock sounded on the door, and Elliot and Olivia slowly walked out of the interrogation room to find Cragen and John standing on the other side of the glass.

"Did I just hear that right?" Cragen asked.

"It's plausible," Olivia said shrugging.

"Both men approach Matthew near the alley on his way back from Lucas Taylor's apartment. Things get out of hand and Andrew bashes Matt's head against the wall until he loses consciousness," Elliot suggested.

"But Daddy's prints are at the scene. Not Andrews," John said.

"It's possible to stab someone and bash their head in without touching anything," Olivia replied. "Especially if you are concentrating on killing someone."

"Phillip's prints were found on the ground near Matthew's body, maybe from him getting down to check his son's pulse," Elliot suggested.

Elliot and Olivia walked up the pathway to the Brooks house an hour later, but slowed their pace when they noticed Andrew Brooks walking up the long driveway toward them.

"Andrew!" Elliot shouted, but before he could get another Andrew turned quickly and sprinted down the driveway. Immediately Elliot and Olivia started after him, Olivia a couple of strides in front of Elliot. She turned the corner of the house quickly but tried to stop as quickly as she could after Andrew jumped from the back wall of the house, a knife jabbed in Olivia's direction. She bended backwards quickly to avoid the slash as she brought her arms inches from her face in protection. Elliot turned the corner quickly, sliding on loose gravel in his attempt to stop and retrieve his gun at the same time. Suddenly Olivia felt a sharp pain in her forearm as blood immediately rolled down her arm and onto the cement below her.

"Liv," Elliot exclaimed getting up quickly as Andrew took off again toward the opposite end of the house. "Liv."

"Get Brooks El, go!" she shouted before he could reach her. She squeezed her arm tightly, trying to stop the massive amount of bleed as she got to her feet and jogged after Elliot who was already around the corner of the house and out of sight. The sound of sirens filled the air as Olivia walked up the gravel path among the fresh cut grass toward the front of the house. She turned the corner to find six uniformed officers huddled around Elliot and Andrew who was tight in Elliot's grasp.

Olivia walked into the squad room later that night around 6:30 pm. She was returning from the hospital where her cut was tended to and bandaged with guaze and medical tape. Elliot was seat at his desk typing up his report on his computer. The room was silent as John, Fin and Nick had gone home for the night and the only voices where from the few other detectives left.

"Indicted?" Olivia asked as she reached her desk. Elliot looked up slowly as if he didn't hear her walk up.

"Yep," Elliot said plainly before standing up and gathering the papers strewn across his desk into a pile. Olivia raised her brow, surprised by Elliot's attitude and tone. He slid the papers into a manila folder before taking it in his hands and turning toward the captain's office.

"Are you okay?" Olivia asked loudly causing him to slow his pace, but continue to face Cragen's office. After a long pause he turned around to look at her.

"You see that bandage on your arm?" he asked walking toward her slowly.

"What about it?" she asked confused.

"That's not okay with me," he said stopping behind his chair.

"Elliot this isn't the first time you or I have gotten injured on the job."

"True, but it _is _the first time you've been pregnant on the job," he said plainly. Olivia felt her stomach lurch as her eyes widened in shock at what Elliot had said. Silence filled the air before Elliot turned quickly and walked toward Cragen's office.


	16. Serious Problems?

Olivia laid in bed later that night as Mark brushed his teeth in the doorway. She laid against the pillows her hand resting on her stomach. Minutes later Mark turned off the light to the bathroom and walked over to the bed. "Are you sure everything is okay?" he asked.

"Do you think it's wrong that I'm working while I'm pregnant?" she asked softly.

"I think what happened today could have been a lot worse," he said. Olivia nodded lightly. "But sweetie there's no way that you could have prevented what happened today, or seen it coming." Mark set his hand over Olivia's interlocking his fingers with hers over his stomach. Olivia clenched her jaw as her eyes began to water lightly. "Olivia," Mark said softly. "Babe. What's wrong?"

"I just never thought that I would be having this conversation," she said with a light smile. "Here I am three months pregnant laying in bed with my husband." Mark smiled as he leaned in and kissed her lightly. "I love you," she whispered.

"Right back at ya," he said with a smile before kissing her again.

Olivia walked into the squad room the next morning to find Elliot at his desk, filling out a report. John, Fin and Nick were standing by the coffee station listening to John discuss his highlights from the presidential debate which aired last night. She walked toward her desk slowly as Elliot looked up from his paperwork. "Morning," he said quietly. Olivia smiled lightly before setting her bag on the floor beside her chair. She took a sip of her water bottle before setting it down on her desk. She was about to sit down before Elliot stood up slowly. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She nodded before following him up the stairs to the balcony overlooking the squad room.

"What's up?" she asked leaning against the railing. There was a slight pause before Elliot turned to face her.

"Liv, last night, how I acted, it wasn't right. You know I may have five kids but I've never been pregnant," he said with a light smile. "But you are and I trust your limitations."

"Elliot I'm pregnant, not porcelain," she said. "But what happened yesterday was unexpected. I mean when we took off down the alley I wasn't thinking about what could go wrong or whatever. And that's my own mistake. I mean let's face it, I'm new to this whole pregnant thing." Elliot smiled lightly as he glanced down at the ground. "So are we okay?"

"Just promise me that six months from now you won't run down an alley after a guy with a knife," he said sarcastically. Olivia laughed light as she stood straight.

"Elliot if I can run six months from now, we've got an even bigger problem." Elliot laughed before heading toward the stairs, Olivia on his heels.

Olivia sat at her desk later that morning and filled out the paperwork to the Brooks case, when Cragen opened the door to his office. "Olivia!" he called, causing her to look up from the folder. "Can I see you for a minute." Olivia nodded before standing up and walking into Cragen's office.

"What's up?" she asked as she walked into the office, closing the door behind her.

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday," he said standing behind his desk. Olivia glanced down at the floor quickly, before looking back up to Cragen. "Olivia, I can't have you chasing perps in your condition."

"My condition," Olivia said as her eyes widened. "Captain, my pregnancy isn't a condition."

"What would you have done if Brooks had stabbed you in your abdomen, or shot you?" he asked. Olivia sighed as she looked over to the interview room attached to Cragen's office, where Nick was interviewing an older woman. "Olivia you're pregnant, and unfortunately with this job, some limitations need to be set."

"So what are you going to do, cuff me to my desk. Captain, I'm only 14 weeks along," she said stepping forward but before she could continue Cragen held up his hand.

"The discussion is closed detective. You may go to the crime scenes, family interviews and interrogate suspects under my approval," he said lowering his hand. Olivia clenched her jaw before turning slowly and walking out of the office.

Two days later Olivia and Mark walked into the doctor's office. After signing in Olivia walked over to Mark who was already seated in one of the many chairs in the room. She sat nervously as Mark rubbed her thigh lightly.

"Are you going to be this way every time we walk in here?" he asked with a smile.

"Until this baby comes out of me, I'm going to be nervous," she replied placing her hand over his. After a few short minutes, a nurse came through the door and called Olivia to come back. She obeyed as Mark followed her down the hall and into the exam room. After the nurse took her blood pressure and all of the essential tests, she closed Olivia's file and stood up.

"Ok Olivia, if you just want to sit tight the doctor should be in shortly."

"Alright, thanks," Olivia said with a smile as her feet dangled over the edge of the exam table.

"Nice to meet you Mark," the nurse said before leaving the room.

"Likewise," he said from the chair next to the table. Almost immediately Olivia's doctor walked into the room, surprising both Olivia and Mark.

"Wow, that's the shortest that I have ever had to wait for a doctor," Mark said as the doctor closed the door behind him.

"I can go back and come in later if you want," he joked. Mark and Olivia laughed as the doctor walked across the room. "How are you guys this morning?"

"Good," they both said almost in unison.

"Great," he said sitting down and opening Olivia's file. He read over the charts quickly before turning in the chair to face Olivia. "Okay Olivia, everything looks great. Blood pressure is good, you said that you are still having some morning sickness and dizziness which is completely normal."

"I read somewhere that it should taper off after the first trimester," Olivia said. "Is it bad if it continues?"

"Not at all," the doctor reassured in a comforting tone. "Some women can have morning sickness until halfway through the second trimester so there's nothing to worry about." Olivia nodded with a smile. "Any problems or concerns that you have?" Olivia shook her head before turning to Mark who was also shaking his.

"Okay, well you make my life pretty easy," the doctor said with a smile. "Uh before I examine you I do want to talk to both of you about some of the things to expect during the pregnancy. Because 

you are only about fourteen or so weeks along, today is more of a consultation. We will look at the baby and you will be able to hear the heartbeat but we won't know the sex of the baby for a little bit."

"Okay," Olivia said as she folded her hands in her lap.

"Olivia, you are how old?" the doctor asked.

"Uh, I will be 43 in a few months," she replied raising her brow.

"Ok," the doctor nodded. "Olivia, because you are in your early forties, the risk of any problems during your pregnancy are slim, but there are significant differences between a woman pregnant at the age of 20 and at the age of 40."

"Serious problems?" Olivia asked nervously.

"Well after the age of 40, a woman that becomes pregnant has a higher risk of giving birth to a child with down syndrome due to a problem with the chromosomes in your body and your baby's body," the doctor explained. Olivia's eyes widened as a wave of nervousness overcame her. "Now because you are just over 40, the chances of your baby having the syndrome is much lower than that of a woman who is say 48, however we can do a test called an amneocentisis, which will tell us if your baby does have a chromosomal problem." The doctor paused noticing the nervousness of Olivia's face. "Don't stress out about this, Olivia, or Mark," he said looking over to Mark in the chair, "Probability is very much in your favor and you shouldn't have anything to worry about. But as your doctor I would like you to know about this," he added. Olivia nodded with a light smile. "Do you have any questions?"

"No, I'm just glad I heard it from you and not from the computer screen," she said with a light smile before looking over to Mark who was also smiling.

"That's why I do it," he said. "Now other than that there is also a risk of heightened blood pressure and diabetes, but you will probably just find yourself to be a little more tired and just a few more aches and pains."

"But I'm good?" she asked with a smile.

"You're excellent," he assured her before standing up. "So why don't we exam you so you can hear the baby's heart beat" Olivia smiled as she laid back and watched as the doctor pulled gloves over his hands. Mark stood next to Olivia's head as he took her hand in his. She pulled up her shirt with her free hand as the doctor began the exam.

Later that night Olivia walked through the living room, pouring some water into the various plants that were scattered throughout the room. Mark stood up and walked across the living room after hearing the doorbell ring.

"Who in the world?" he said walking toward the door.

"Whatever they're selling, we don't want any," she said walking into the kitchen. "Unless it's a girl scout troop, then but some cookies." Mark laughed as Olivia disappeared into the kitchen and he opened the front door.

"Don," Mark said, surprised to see Olivia's captain standing on their porch.

"Mark. Hi, is Olivia home by chance," Cragen asked.

"Uh, yeah she's in the kitchen. Come on in," Mark said opening the front door wider so Cragen could step into the living room. "Liv!" he called as he closed the door behind Cragen. "Don's here?" he called. Olivia raised her brow in surprise as she tossed the cloth towel onto the counter before walking out of the kitchen.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Mark asked Cragen.

"No, I can't stay," Cragen declined with a light smile. "I just wanted to talk to Olivia for a minute." He looked over as Olivia walked out of the kitchen. "Liv."

"Captain," she said with a smile as she walked toward him. "What's up?"

"I was on my way back from the house and I wanted to stop by and talk to you about something for a minute." Olivia glanced to Mark quickly before back to Cragen.

"Uh sure," Olivia said slightly confused as she turned, and in a way leading Cragen into the kitchen.

"Liv, I'll be upstairs if you need me. The basket of laundry isn't going to fold itself," he said with a light laugh before walking up the stairs. Olivia and Cragen walked into the kitchen before Olivia pulled herself up onto the countertop.

"How was the doctor's appointment?" he asked. Olivia raised her brow, unsure of why her captain was standing in her kitchen.

"Don?" Olivia said looking at her captain. He glanced down at the floor before looking back up to Olivia. "My appointment was fine. Now what's this about?" she asked with a light smile.

"Olivia, my only reason for restricting your job performance is for your safety," he began but before he could continue Olivia slid off of the counter and leaned in front of the island which stood between them.

"Captain," she began but stopped when he raised his hand.

"I did what I did because I don't want to see something to happen to you, let alone your baby. This child is something that I know you have wanted forever and if I have to restrict your time on the street or in potentially dangerous situation, I will do it." Olivia looked down at the counter top as silence fell between them.

"Don," she said before looking back up to him. "I know why you did what you did." He smirked lightly. "And thank you." Olivia smiled as she walked around the island toward her captain. "I mean let's face it, I'd rather be benched for being pregnant than because IAB put me there."

"Another point I forgot to make," he said sarcastically. Both laughed as they walked out of the kitchen toward the front door. Cragen opened the door before turning to Olivia. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah you will," she said smiling. "Good night." Cragen nodded before walking out of the house closing the door behind him. Olivia locked the front door before turning the lights off downstairs and walking up to the bedroom where Mark was standing beside the bed, folding the towels and sheets.

"Everything okay?" he asked as Olivia walked into the bedroom.

"Yeah," she said walking across the bedroom and climbing onto the bed. She laid back resting her head on the pillow. "I can't stop thinking about the doctor's appointment today?"

"Liv, he said not to worry about it. You're fine," he said sympathetically.

"No, that the next appointment we might be finding out if it's a boy or girl," she said rubbing her bump slightly. Mark smiled as he placed the folded towels back in the basket and climbed onto the bed, sitting next to Olivia's waist.

"Do you have a preference?" he asked rubbing her thigh.

"Not at all," she replied with a smile. "What about you?" Olivia shook her head, still smiling before Mark leaned over and kissed her. She brought her hand to the back of his neck as the kiss deepened and Mark pulled the blanket over top of them, smothering them in darkness.

Two months later, Mark and Olivia walked up the pathway to Mark's parents house. Mark's entire family was gathering once again for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, for the second time since Mark's mother told him she was sick. Mark held Olivia's hand tight as they walked up the few stairs of the porch to the front door. Mark knocked loudly before opening the door and walking into the house hearing familiar voices from the living room. Mark removed Olivia's jacket before hanging it, along with his on the rack by the door. Olivia adjusted her gray long sleeve shirt which fit tightly over her bump. They walked into the living room where Mark's entire family were talking and laughing with one another. Olivia laughed at the shouts and screams that were heard as they turned the corner. She placed her hand under her now larger stomach, cradling her bump, as she and Mark walked further into the living room.

Twenty minutes later Olivia stood in the kitchen with Mark's brother David and Eric, and Mark. She took a sip of her water as she felt Mark's hand on her lower back. "So what's the deal with work?" David asked Olivia.

"Well I am pretty much confined to my desk for the next three months," she answered with a smile. "I can still interview victims and go to the crime scene but other than that I am strictly my desk's best friend." They all laughed as Mark walked over to the fridge and taking out another bottle of beer.

"And you are how far along?" Eric asked.

"Just over five and a half months," Olivia said nodding as she rubbed her stomach lightly.

"What about the sex?" David asked. Olivia glanced over to Mark who walked around his father and over to Olivia. He smiled indicating that she should tell them.

"It's a girl," she said smiling.

"Oh my gosh," Eric exclaimed as he reached out and hugged Olivia tightly. Olivia wrapped her arms around her father in law, as she heard David congratulating Mark behind her.

Ten minutes later, David and Mark left the kitchen and headed toward the living room where the rest of the family remained, leaving Olivia with Eric. "Eric, Mark and I were talking the other night about the fact that we are having a girl," she began as she walked toward the counter.

"I'm so glad it's a girl. I mean I would have been just as happy with a boy, but a little girl is wonderful. I'm so happy for you two," he interjected as he walked toward her.

"Thanks," she said with a light smile.

"Eric, Mark and I were talking and even though it's kind of early to seriously talking about a name, we actually came to the idea of maybe her middle name, but we wanted to talk to you about it."

"Why?" he asked confused.

"We would really like her middle name to be Rose," she said in a sympathetic, almost soft tone. Eric smiled lightly before clenching his jaw as his eyes began to water. "We wanted to make sure that her grandfather approved. I mean she did have a pretty amazing grandmother."

"I would love if her middle name was Rose," he said choking back the tears before hugging Olivia again. Olivia smiled as she rested her chin on Eric's shoulder, her own eyes beginning to water.


End file.
